Project Source

John McAfee has a high reputation in the field of cybersecurity and cryptocurrency. He had a strong belief in technology, freedom, and privacy during his lifetime, and he had a keen interest in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. To expand John McAfee’s legacy, his wife Janice McAfee launched the Antivirus project through his X account to carry on his ideas.

Image source:https://x.com/officialmcafee

The project aims to use AI technology to defend digital freedom, continue John McAfee’s mission in cybersecurity and privacy protection, not only provide digital protection but also emphasize a ‘retaliatory’ counterattack strategy against behaviors that may infringe on digital freedom.

Image source:@mcafeeaintivirus/aintivirus-c433ff44ed06””>@mcafeeaintivirus/aintivirus-c433ff44ed06"">https://medium.com/@mcafeeaintivirus/aintivirus-c433ff44ed06

Development process

The AIntivirus project leverages John McAfee’s reputation and influence to promote it. John McAfee, a legendary figure in the antivirus software field, is well-known in the network security and cryptocurrency community. Janice McAfee uses his social media accounts to promote AINTI, attracting a large following in a short period of time. With this celebrity endorsement in the early stages of the project, AINTI gained significant popularity and its token value skyrocketed to $28.7 million within three hours, reaching $70 million within four hours. Meanwhile, a project named @AIntivirusX account claims to be the “AI incarnation” of John McAfee, releasing a cyberpunk-style declaration, claiming that AIntivirus token is the ultimate subverter against surveillance, greed, and digital enslavement, wrapped in cryptographic brilliance, and also provides “conversation with John” function, claiming to use AI to replicate McAfee’s thinking mode to attract user attention.

Image source:https://www.aintivirus.ai/

Subsequently, the encrypted community continuously questioned the project’s technical implementation. On-chain data shows that the so-called ‘AI incarnation’ technology only relies on a pre-set reply library, and there is no record of any interaction with AI models at the smart contract address. The GitHub code repository only updates 3 test files, indicating that the ‘AI replication’ may only be a static text reply. In addition, the security audit report pointed out that the top ten addresses of AINTI tokens control 19.1% of the supply, the developers have not given up wallet permissions, and the token deployer address retains the right to freeze transactions, which contradicts the project’s claim of ‘decentralization’.

Faced with numerous doubts, Janic responded, saying, “For 17 years, the media has distorted John’s true image, and now she will tell the truth with his legacy.” However, netizens do not agree. Although the AIntivirus project has gained high market value and attention in a short period of time, it faces great uncertainty in its future development due to issues such as the authenticity of its technology and its level of decentralization.

Currently, the community has accumulated a certain number of fans. As of February 1, 2025, Telegram’s official website has about 15,000 fans, with about 500 online.

Image Source:https://t.me/AIntivirus

The core of the AIntivirus project lies in its application of AI technology, and it is expected to continue to make efforts in this area in the future. According to the latest information from Medium, the team will launch the first product esim and gift cards in February this year, and users can purchase gift cards with AINTI tokens.

Token Economy

Since its launch, AIntivirus has sparked community concerns about its token supply. Its token AINTI was launched on January 6, 2025, and deployed on the Solana chain with a total supply of 100 million.

Image Source:https://www.gate.io/pilot/solana/aintivirus-ainti

Before the official announcement, all tokens had already been transferred to different wallets. According to DEX Screener data, only 2.6 million AINTI tokens (worth $1 million) were used for liquidity in the Meteora and Raydium pools. Some users pointed out that these tokens were ‘minted 16 days ago and then transferred to insiders. Only 2.6% of the liquidity is available, while the rest is held by internal wallets.’ On-chain analysts have found a significant amount of internal activity in the project, with token deployer VirUs sending 90% of the total supply to 287 addresses before the token launch, raising suspicions of an intention to enrich team members.

Image source:https://solscan.io/token/BAezfVmia8UYLt4rst6PCU4dvL2i2qHzqn4wGhytpNJW#analytics

Meme-like tokens often lack practical utility and face high volatility and market uncertainty. There are greater investment risks, so investors need to make cautious decisions and act within their means.

Risk Warning

(1) Technical Risk
Despite the project’s claim to use AI and encryption technology, the technical implementation has been widely questioned. The crypto community has found that the so-called ‘AI embodiment’ technology may simply rely on a predefined reply library, with no AI model interaction records for smart contract addresses, and limited code library updates. Security audits have shown that there are vulnerabilities in the smart contract, as the developers have not relinquished wallet permissions and have retained the authority to freeze transactions. This not only contradicts the concept of decentralization, but also poses potential security risks that could affect the project’s technical credibility and long-term development potential.

(2) Token Risks
Community concerns have been raised about the supply and distribution of AINTI tokens, as all tokens have been transferred to different wallets before the official announcement of the project. Only a small amount of tokens are used for trading pool liquidity, while a large number of tokens are held in internal wallets. This situation has led to suspicions about the project’s motives, with the community believing that the project may prioritize profits for internal members.

(3) Legal and compliance risks
The project emphasizes a “retaliatory” strategy aimed at countering actions that infringe on digital freedom, but this approach may raise legal issues. In the process of tracking and retaliating against attackers, the actions of the project party may infringe on the legitimate rights of others, leading to legal disputes. Due to significant differences in cybersecurity laws among different countries and regions, it is difficult for the AIntivirus project to ensure that its actions fully comply with local regulations during global promotion, posing a major obstacle to the project’s development in terms of legal compliance risks.