If you’ve been following Bitcoin over the past few years, you likely remember John McAfee’s crazy BTC price prediction. As the cryptocurrency market was blowing up in 2017, McAfee, the creator of the cybersecurity company that shares his name, posted the below tweet, claiming that he is betting that Bitcoin will hit $1 million by the end of 2020.
On the line: his family jewels, which McAfee claimed he would eat on national television of the price target was not hit.
When I predicted Bitcoin at $500,000 by the end of 2020, it used a model that predicted $5,000 at the end of 2017. BTC has accelerated much faster than my model assumptions. I now predict Bircoin at $1 million by the end of 2020. I will still eat my dick if wrong. pic.twitter.com/WVx3E71nyD
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) November 29, 2017
While many thought he was kidding, he continued to double down on this stance over the years. Late last year, he took an interview with Forbes, in which he stated that he believes BTC will surpass $1 million apiece simply due to the scarcity of the asset:
“Let’s get real, there are only 21 million bitcoins. Seven million of which have been lost forever, and then, if Satoshi [bitcoin’s anonymous creator] is dead, add a few more million.”
What he’s arguing is that with increased demand for Bitcoin, the ultra scarce nature of the cryptocurrency will lead to a surge in price as there won’t be enough coins being fed into the market at low price points to satisfy demand.
Related Reading: Bitcoin Poised to Collapse Under $5,000? Market Cycle Fractal Suggests So
He continued to tout this line, saying in an interview with AIBCSummit: “Run the f***ing numbers. If Bitcoin is less than $2 million by the end of 2020, then mathematics itself is a flawed disappointment.”
But according to a latest tweet from the crypto promoter and hardline libertarian, this was all a “ruse.” Considering that the original prediction was crazy anyway, is this really surprising?
Bitcoin Price Prediction Just a Ruse
In a tweet published on Sunday, McAfee branded the prediction and his bet “a ruse to onboard new users,” presumably citing the mass media coverage this oddball price target created. He went on to write that he thinks while Bitcoin was the first of the cryptocurrencies, “it’s an ancient technology,” before likening the first blockchain to the Model T of automobiles.
Eat my dick in 12 months?
A ruse to onboard new users. It worked.
Bitcoin was first. It's an ancient technology. All know it.
Newer blockchains have privacy, smart contracts, distributed apps and more.
Bitcoin is our future?
Was the Model T the future of the automobile?
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) January 5, 2020
McAfee concluded by noting that newer blockchains, be it Ethereum or Monero, have privacy features, smart contracts, distributed apps, and more, seemingly pointing to the sentiment that Bitcoin’s purpose as digital money for the internet is a shortfall.
Related Reading: This Scary Fractal Suggests Bitcoin Price Is On Its Way to $3,000
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