Stranger than fiction: John McAfee's self-imposed exile

McAfee has claimed that he is being hounded by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for dodging taxes for the last eight years, and the CIA, for, er, something. But, to us, the latest, spellbinding chase scenes seem more like smoke and mirrors than a smoking gun.

Is the whole thing just another of his wild publicity stunts? Is the notorious John McAfee—a U.S. Presidential candidate for god’s sake—really one step ahead of the long arm of the most powerful nation on earth?

It strains credulity. So we put it to him. And his response was quite bizarre.

The seven secrets of blockchain millionaires

Internet entrepreneur and former comedy writer John Hargrave begins his life story in “a black stretch limo as sleek as a buttered dolphin.” Then he lost it all. His new book, which was published today, details Hargrave’s quest to rebuild his fortune by betting big on bitcoin and blockchain.

It's not quite as easy as just buying early and HODLing—well it is, that's tip number one. But there are six other pieces of advice that might be news to you.

Here are the biggest stories in the cryptoverse:

• Binance issues a statement on the resurfaced KYC haul.
• Judge rules Coinbase did not commit fraud.
• VeChain moves into the Chinese wine imports industry.

The Fed’s new real-time payments system is no threat to Bitcoin

What you need to know

The Federal Reserve intends to create a real-time payments system for banks to send money between themselves. The offering will be operational sometime after 2023, and available for transactions up to $25,000.

Why it's important

This has worried a few people cautiously holding their crypto bags. On Twitter, derivatives trader Tone Vays argued that while it might not affect Bitcoin, it could spell bad news for altcoins focused on payments—XRP, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. But we've taken a look and there's nothing to worry about.

Kik denies (almost) everything 

Messenger startup Kik came back swinging today against the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s claims that it ran an $100 million, unregistered securities offering in late 2017.

In an 130-page response filed with a Southern New York District Court, Kik said the Commission’s suit, which it filed in June, was incomplete, irrelevant, and indicative of “a consistent effort to twist the facts by removing quotes from their context and misrepresenting the documents and testimony that the Commission gathered in its investigation.”

Read its scathing response here.