John McAfee, the one-time antivirus entrepreneur who has in recent years inspired a rabid following of online cryptocurrency enthusiasts, told his fans in June to email the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and demand a debate between the two men.



The emails poured in — nearly 100 of them. Now, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, BuzzFeed News is able to publish more than 90 of those emails.

McAfee, who has repeatedly insisted he will consume his own genitalia if bitcoin isn’t successful, is infamous for creating and selling McAfee antivirus software, then being accused of murder (he says he's innocent), then rebranding himself as CEO of a cryptocurrency firm, and then severing ties with that firm. Earlier this year, he claimed “the SEC owns America” and said, “If you think that an agency of the US government would not stoop to assassination, kidnapping, threats, then what are you smoking?”

He was incensed when SEC Chair Jay Clayton said on June 6 that the agency would not change its current rules, which classify initial coin offerings — a process where startups attempt to raise money by selling cryptocurrency “tokens” — as commodities.

In response, McAfee tweeted Clayton's email address and phone number, along with a call: “Flood this mother fucker's voice mail and inbox with demands that he debate me.”