Eccentric ICO Supporter John McAfee Set To Launch A Physical Cryptocurrency
John McAfee, eccentric cybersecurity developer, and initial coin offering (ICO) supporter announced that he is launching a physical cryptocurrency dubbed the “McAfee Redemption Unit” (MRU).
The announcement made on Twitter states the currency seems to be different for McAfee Coin, which released last year to the little market demand and seems to no longer have an operational website.
The physical notes will be in seven denominations, ranging from 1 to 500 MRUs. Four of the notes features a picture of McAfee in different stages of undress, including one in which he is in the midst of women, his nose covered in white powder. The other three MRU notes feature pictures of Bitmain founder Jihan Wu, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce, and Bitcoin.com owner Roger Ver. It is uncertain if these three gave the approval to have their portrait featured on MRU notes.
He noted that the currency will also feature a blockchain component that will permit MRU owners to change the noted back into fiat by returning them to the MRU Foundation.
Every MRU has an initial face value of $9.95 and can be exchanged for a one-minute in-person meeting with McAfee. According to McAfee, 341,000 MRU notes of various denomination s have been printed, with an overall circulation of 6,050,000 MRU and an implied market cap of $60.2 million.
There is a case to be made that the exchange process might be more complex compared to withdrawing USD from Tether. Based on a message printed on the notes, they can only be exchanged in person in Mexico during a two-hour space each day, at which time the owner will have a certain date, time, and location in the U.S. in which the person will be able to meet with McAfee. Incidentally, individuals might only get to exchange 100 MRUs at a time.
Why is the process so complex? According to McAfee:
“Redemption is purposely made very expensive. My followers are hugely loyal and I feel certain that many will go through the time and huge expense for the opportunity to spend private time with me. See what this might do to the fundamental value of each redemption unit. If the value of a unit is based even remotely on the cost of redemption, which people are willing to pay, then the notes will immediately skyrocket. But the big key is in the way I have structured the auction sites. Cannot tell you more now.”
