John McAfee, the eccentric antivirus pioneer known for publicity stunts and brushes with the law, announced he must “go dark” on Twitter, where he frequently comments on cryptocurrencies and has recently said government forces are out to get him.
“Developing events have made it necessary for John McAfee to go dark,” someone wrote on his account on Thursday. “Please be advised that this account will be operated by staff until further notice.” McAfee and his wife didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The note set off speculation in online crypto circles, fuelled by McAfee’s postings in past days that the US Internal Revenue Service and other authorities have been “harassing” his former employees and business contacts. Last week, McAfee wrote: “I expect the US government to act soon in order to silence me.” He said he had pre-written more than 2 000 short statements “covering what I anticipate will happen”.
In recent years, McAfee has focused on promoting various digital coins, and last month he vowed to reveal the identity of the anonymous bitcoin creator known as Satoshi Nakamoto. He later backed out, saying lawyers warned him it could complicate his plan to fight extradition to the US from the Bahamas. A US justice department spokesman in Washington said on Thursday that he had no information. — Reported by Olga Kharif, (c) 2019 Bloomberg LP
