20 McAfee Coins – John McAfee’s Cryptocurrency Picks

A List of All the Coins McAfee is Tweeting About and What You Should Know Before Trading/Investing in Them

John McAfee was touting a cryptocurrency every day for 20 days; he switched to Tweeting about a coin a week. We list all his picks here.

First, we’ll provide a full list of coins McAfee is Tweeting about (his coin of the week and ICO of the week).

Next, we’ll move on to updates and some general notes about what McAfee is doing and how you might want to play his picks.

UPDATE: Here in March 2018 the coin of the week and ICO of a week thing has pretty much stopped. Mcafee still touts coins and ICOs, but seemingly not in a formal “coin o’ the week” fashion. Regardless, we’ll continue to list coins and ICOs he promotes below (as this page doubles as a useful list of McAfee coins in any case).

The List of All Coins McAfee Has Tweeted About on Twitter Recently (His Coin of the Day, Coin of the Week, ICO of the Week, and Other Notable Mentions)

The following coins and ICOs were all announced on John McAfee’s @officialmcafee Twitter page.

Coins that count toward the 20 (Originally a Coin of the Day, now a Coin of the Week):

1. Electroneum (ETN)
2. BURST (BURST)
3. Digibyte (DGB)
4. Reddcoin (RDD)
5. Humaniq (HMQ)
6. Tron (TRX)
7. Factom (FCT)
8. Doge Coin (DOGE)
9. Stellar Lumens (XLM)
10. Syscoin (SYS)

TIP: Originally there were supposed to be “20 coins,” only 10 have been announced so far.

Coins noted but not officially touted as part of the McAfee 20:

1. Bitcoin (McAfee touts Bitcoin, but also supports Bitcoin Cash)
2. Verge (XVG)
3. SafeEx (SAFEX)
4. Monero (XMR)
5. Zcash (ZEC)

McAfee’s ICO of the Week and Notable ICOs Mentioned:

1. Mcafeecoin (an ICO McAfee is the co-founder and director of)
2. Latium
3. Sether
4. KWHCoin
5. Bitindia
6. Insurepal
7. Bezop.io
8. Bob’s Repair
9. Finacoin
10. Shivers
11. Transcodium
12. Outing-app.com
13. Moozicore
14. Podone.io
15. Eristica
16. Nimbus
17. Knowledge.io
18. Docademic
19. CryptoSecure
20. Skraps.io

TIP: Not every ICO noted above is an official ICO of the week. Instead, the above is a list of all ICOs Mcafee has plugged on Twitter since he started doing his ICO of the week. In practice, we aren’t getting an official ICO of the week every week and are instead getting multiple ICOs each week. Thus, we are listing them here. Always do your own research before investing. If I recall correctly the last official ICO of the week was Knolwedge.io.

NOTE: If I am missing something feel free to comment below. Make sure to do your research. John McAfee’s picks are worth having on your radar, but it is still up to you to read up on a coin or ICO and make sure it is the right investment for you. This is especially true with ICOs.

Notes and Updates on the McAfee Coins

UPDATE/CURRENT ADVICE: The mood of the market has changed considerably since McAfee started posting his coin of the day/week. The advice below applies mostly to how one would want to react in the previous bull market where altcoins were performing very well. In the current bear market, where far fewer coins are performing well, one should not expect rapid increases in price upon McAfee announcing a coin, and should instead generally be wary of all coins losing value in the short term. This advice doesn’t apply to ICOs (which aren’t subject to the current market). My best current advice for Mcafee coins you want to own is to dollar cost average into them over time (aiming to buy the average price from now until the next altcoin rally, which could be days to months out). If you want to own these coins, then you’ll likely want to take advantage of the sales a bear market brings with it, yet you’ll also need to plan for a rainy day (that is, plan for further correction and an extended bear market). Thus, a conservative movement is to take the funds you would spend on the coin and to buy an average price over time.

The list above is useful, but it will be far more useful in context. Below are some updates and notes that will help offer context:

For the first 5 days, McAfee Tweeted a coin of the day. However, he has now switched to a coin a week.

The reason he switched to a coin a week was that bots were pumping each coin before the average person could buy them and then dumping them. This happening every day was causing increasing amounts of chaos.

Then, on Christmas (of all days), all the coins were rather unceremoniously dumped even further than they had been initially based upon (from what I can gather) two bits of news. 1. some FUD spread about Verge and 2. McAfee was announcing he would start trying to trick the bots by using images; that tactic doesn’t seem to have worked in retrospect by the way. Further, those events occurred on a day when Bitcoin went up, so those trading in BTC pairs got a double whammy since, when BTC goes down, other coins fall in respect to the BTC price by necessity.

All that said, the result of the switch has since been mostly good. That is, the previously announced coins have been a little more steady since recovering from the initial dump and the move to a coin a week.

Moving forward one will most likely want to avoid buying these coins right away, wait until the price steadies out (starting buy-ins a good hour after the price steadies, if not hours to days), and then be ready to hold the coins McAfee suggests as medium or long-term plays. Playing these short for a profit has become increasingly less realistic, as has to guess the coin; now has to wait weeks to months to find out if they are right.

If you do try to play these short, remember to set stops, and be very careful about buying the initial candle (once it gets high enough, you’d be better off shorting the coin, although it is risky to do that even if you know what you are doing).

If it is unclear what I’m saying, reference the image at the top of the page that uses Factom as an example using a 5-minute candle chart. That giant green candle on the 5-minute chart is the pump; the next red candle is the dump. Its hard to act quickly enough to play in this space. Instead, if you can start buy-ins after the price settles, you may see ups and downs from there, but they are unlikely to be as wild as they are in the initial hour or so.

THE ABOVE APPLIES TO COINS, NOT ICOS: The above advice does not apply to ICOs. ICOs you want to invest in should be purchased either during the ICO or shortly after hitting market. However, when they do hit the market, you’ll need to be cognizant of price fluctuations (just as you would be with a McAfee coin of the week).

NOTE: For better or for worse, the coin of the week has been drifting back down to its initial price regarding BTC within about 24 hours of it being announced as we saw with Factom, Tron, and Humaniq. Given that, you might want to wait about 24 hours after the coin is announced to start buying. Each coin has gone up over the course of a week or so after that initial period, but the first 24 hours have been lackluster for the coins of the week so far. Thus, unless you can buy and sell the initial candle, it might be worth holding off a day to start building a medium-term or long-term position. That said, anyone who bought after the price settled a bit has done well.

UPDATE MCAFEE TWITTER HACKED DEC. 27: McAfee’s Twitter was hacked (somewhat ironically) on Dec. 27 for a brief moment. The result was that a few fake “coin of the day” coins were Tweeted about and then quickly deleted. Some of the picks were great coins, but importantly they were not official McAfee picks. The fake Tweet coins were BAT, SIA, PTOY, and NXT.

UPDATES AN ICO A WEEK: McAfee began tweeting about an ICO a week. These Tweets were sent out every Monday. He then started tweeting more frequently, but not at set times. Since ICOs can’t be pumped, and since there are so many, he has taken to Tweeting about them more often. We will keep you updated as to what his picks are (see below).

Now, some general notes on the McAfee coins:

1. Most importantly, you should check out John McAfee’s @officialmcafee Twitter page and follow him. His Twitter page is where he announces the coins. He announces the coin at 6 am PST each day (which may be easier or harder to be up for depending on your timezone). UPDATE: Moving forward he will announce the coin of the week every Monday on Twitter (he insinuated that he would vary the time he Tweets, but this remains to be seen).
2. Bitcoin doesn’t count, neither do random projects he touts (like his projects or the ICOs he occasionally mentions; he will make his pick of the day clear). We list some of his other choices below, but they aren’t part of the 20 coins of the day or week or official ICO announcements.
3. McAfee usually picks coins that aren’t widely known, have privacy, are decentralized, and have interesting features (like unique code, a neat project, cool tech, etc.). You are often looking at a coin trading under a few cents that has promising features but isn’t widely known. Although Monero, for example, fits the bill, it might not get listed because it is already well known, has a high market cap, etc.
4. There is a rumor that McAfee is profiting from this. We have to assume that he is. What we are hoping is that he has also carefully researched each coin and believes in it, and is not for example just taking payola to shill some random coin that will end up being a bad investment for others. Let’s assume the best and avoid the fear, uncertainty, and doubt (so we will assume he is profiting, but sincerely approves of each coin). We hope that he is long in every coin he is touting and has done his due diligence and research. He strikes me as the type of guy who would sooner hold these coins into the ground then dump the coin on the day he mentions it. Most of the entities dumping the coins are bots programmed to follow McAfee’s Tweets. I’m sure the first time he mentioned Bitcoin it saw a price increase, but we know he held through this (and those who followed his lead were rewarded greatly). It makes sense that he would hold through these as well (and thus it may make sense for us to follow suit).

NOTE: Speaking the Verge FUD, if you don’t think people will try to spread FUD to bring down the price of these coins after they rise in value, you don’t know crypto. Expect FUD like the FUD that dropped all the McAfee coins on Christmas (it was FUD targeted at Verge, I won’t spread it here, you can Google it). If you would panic sell your coin if it dropped enough in price, then you should have a stop in place beforehand, so you are selling strategically and not emotionally. Panic selling is almost always a bad idea in crypto.

Here are some of my notes on these coins. If you want to play the McAfee pick, there are some factors you need to consider:

1. There is a near zero chance that you will get in before the initial pump if you don’t guess what coin is coming next or have an API setup to buy for you (Bittrex has most of the coins he touts, so you’ll want a Bittrex API AKA Bot). At this point, the only ones getting in before the initial pump are those who know beforehand, guess correctly beforehand, and bots. If you don’t have a bot, and you aren’t McAfee’s best friend, then this probably means you don’t have much of a shot unless you guess correctly or are very lucky with a quick buy.
2. If you don’t or can’t play the initial call, there is still a way to play these. The coins McAfee touts tend to pump and then dump quickly creating a “giant green candle, with a gnarly wick, followed by a much lower average price.” After the initial dump it can be a good time to buy; wait a least an hour, if not 4 or 5 hours, if not 4 to 5 days, after that initial giant green candle until the price stabilizes. Buying into the giant green candle can be dangerous, but historically buying after the initial chaos has worked out well (or, if not well, certainly better than buying into the top of the giant green candle). In other words, if you don’t catch a lucky buy right away, consider waiting until the price stabilizes. So far every pick has gone up from that initial stable price (and most even from its highest price). If you mistimed but followed these rules, holding isn’t the worst play (as opposed to cutting your losses and selling low). Just keep in mind that you may not have much room for short-term profits and these are all likely best done as long-term plays.
3. If you are lucky enough to buy immediately, then you might want to sell and get out while the price is still going up. You’ll have moments to get a sell-off, and you are up against bots. Once the price starts falling your human hands likely won’t be quick enough to compete with the bots. If you miss a chance to sell, consider holding for 12 – 24 hours at least to see if you can recover some of your investment (this tactic has worked on some of these, but not all so far). Even those who want to go long in these should try to sell before the initial dump and buy again. I hate to say that, but its true. You will be doing this along with everyone else, but of course, this is what causes the natural pump and dump. Many of us would love it if there weren’t a dump phase, but we have to deal with reality here.
4. Finally, if you don’t plan to go long in the coin, consider taking profits when you have them. This can be done by taking incremental profits as they occur, or by moving stops up to lock in profits. Nothing says a coin that does well today has to continue doing well in the short term. Most of these picks might well have bright futures ahead, but if you aren’t committed to the coin, there is no need for you to marry it for the next months or years waiting for its value to go up.

NOTE: Assuming you bought before the pump or upon the coin stabilizing, you might want to consider holding a little of each coin long (it’s certainly the most sportsman-like move to make thinking of your fellow investors and the crypto community as a whole). If we assume McAfee has done legitimate research, you could be buying a 3-cent coin today that will be worth 30 cents in a year. That is a great 100x return that people who held Bitcoin from $100 to $10,000 got. I think that is what McAfee is going for here. The short strategies make sense, but consider keeping a bit of your buy long if it makes sense for you. For example, consider keeping some profits, a mistimed buy you “forgot” to set a stop on, or some coin you didn’t buy at the top.

TIP: To get a buy-in when the price is rocketing upward, you have to set your buy for a price well above the current market price. Likewise, to sell when the price is crashing, you have to set your sell price well below the current price. It won’t trigger if you play it too tight. To sell you need a buyer, to buy you need a seller. If you want to play it safe, set stops and make sure your ask price is well below the conditional price that triggers the stop; expect slippage!

Trying to Predict Which Coins McAfee Will Pick

Now, let’s discuss which coins McAfee might pick.

No, let’s not.

I have a good sense of some coins that McAfee might pick, but I think it’s irresponsible to speculate on this site.

I already see some of the ones I concluded from my research being speculated on, that isn’t necessarily going to have a great outcome if he doesn’t call a given coin (and it could make the market more chaotic if he does).

You can do a Google search for past McAfee interviews and pair that with what McAfee has said on his Twitter page in the past to get a good sense of what coins make the cut. Likewise, if you look at which coins randomly all dropped in sync when someone spread Verge FUD on Christmas (around 3 pm PST), you’ll get a good sense of which coins people are speculating on McAfee picking moving forward (as essentially all McAfee coins dropped in lock-step at that point).

If you do that research, and you want to speculate on that research because you think you’ve found a great pick, well then, that is your call. I don’t think it’s a bad move if you know the risk and like the coin.

You might look for a coin that had a spike in its price and volume around the same time did ETN, BURST, DGB, RDD, and HMQ did. Perhaps you’re keeping an eye on something that dipped when the Verge FUD brought down Verge for a moment? If it is an interesting project, and if it has privacy features, then 1. it is not a bad pick in general and 2. it meets McAfee’s criteria and fits the pattern so far.

To reiterate an above point, I am fairly sure that McAfee’s main goal here is to give a boost to coins he likes and he is long in and will hold for months or years. I don’t want to see a ton of people dumping these for quick gains with average investors who potentially don’t have a ton of money to lose caught in the crossfire. I assume McAfee doesn’t either.

I understand that most people who would need someone to tell them what coins fit this pattern are probably the same people who would be willing to hold. Conversely, those who are going for the quick pump and dump, don’t need or want advice.

Still, again, my suggestion for the average user is the following

1. Get a buy-in very quickly by looking for that 6am-ish PST tweet.
2. Sell quickly. That is risky, but the worst outcome is that you end up holding.

Remember if the price goes too high and you are a few minutes in, hold off and wait for step 2. 2 (and most importantly). To wait until the price stabilizes after the announcement and then buy in (with the idea being that each coin so far has raised in value after the initial chaos.)

UPDATE: Remember what I said above, since this is now a coin a week, you won’t find out if your guess is right for weeks or months. That might change how you want to play that. A lot can happen in a few weeks in the crypto space.

TIP: A good tactic with any coin is to average your buys over time (so you buy an average price) and to set stops (in case the market implodes while your best-laid-plans are being implemented).