SEC v. McAfee et al. (paid stock promotion, 2020)

Settled

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In October 2020 the SEC charged John McAfee and Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. over undisclosed paid promotion of initial coin offerings and a separate scheme to tout and sell a crypto asset. On 14 July 2022 the court entered a consent judgment against Watson for US$316,401.48 in disgorgement and US$59,533.38 in interest, and the claims against McAfee were dismissed after the SEC filed a notice of his death.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$316k

Prejudgment interest

$59.5k

Total relief

$376k

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on October 6, 2020 as release LR-24941. The respondents named are McAfee et al. (1 individual, 0 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

This library tags the matter as paid stock promotion, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The conduct is recorded against crypto.

Non-monetary relief recorded: conduct-based injunction.

The release references a parallel criminal proceeding. Where a criminal case exists, the civil and criminal outcomes are recorded separately, because they resolve on different standards of proof.

Outcome. SEC release LR-25445 says that on 14 July 2022 the Southern District of New York entered a final consent judgment against Watson. It enjoins him from violating the anti-fraud provisions, bars him from taking part in the offer or sale of digital asset securities other than for his own accounts, and orders US$316,401.48 in disgorgement and US$59,533.38 in prejudgment interest. The release adds that the SEC filed a notice of McAfee's death, which led to the dismissal of its claims against him, so no judgment against McAfee was entered.

The allegations against both men were never tried; Watson's resolution was by consent and McAfee's by dismissal. No civil penalty is listed in the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Paid stock promotion — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2020-10-06 Litigation release published
2. 2022-07-14 Final consent judgment against Watson; claims against McAfee dismissed after notice of death (SEC LR-25445)

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release
• SEC litigation release LR-25445
• Judgment against Jimmy Gale Watson Jr.

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.