Bitcoin Mining Farm in a Semi-abandoned Hotel

After John McAfee was reportedly found dead in his prison cell in Spain, there have been reports that the antivirus tycoon’s hideout place prior to his arrest was a secret bitcoin mining farm.

According to El Pais publication, McAfee’s reported hideout was a semi-abandoned hotel in Cambrils called Daurada Park Hotel. Cambrils is a coastal town located in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.

Spanish publication El Confidencial referred to the hotel as ‘ghost hotel’ because reservations were pretty much impossible to make as no one answered the phone even when the hotel was still operational. Back in 2018 the publication tried to contact the hotel about the McAfee story back in 2018 but to no avail. The hotel has not received any reviews since 2017, and even before then most reviewers found the hotel to be “terrible.”

According to Diari de Tarragona, Daurada Park Hotel was bought by an unidentified Russian businessman. Authorities became suspicious of the hotel when a huge laser pointing at the sky was built on its roof. The Catalan police raided the premises in 2018 and found a bitcoin mining farm in the basement of the hotel that was operating 24-7.

Back then the police couldn’t shut down the bitcoin mining operation at the time as cryptocurrency was an unregulated industry. According to Diari de Tarragona it was unclear what happened to the mining farm. The hotel is now permanently closed.

Feds had suspected that McAfee had some hidden cryptocurrencies, which he denied, adding that all of his assets had been seized by the Feds.

Tracing McAfee’s Location to the Semi-Abandoned Hotel

McAfee never mentioned being in this hotel. But according to the Spanish publications, a group of computer enthusiasts pieced together clues from images and comments he posted online using various methodologies, such as open-source intelligence.

McAfee said he was hiding out near Belarus, but several clues placed him in Spain instead. Images he posted on social media included beaches and balconies matching images on Google maps of the Daurada Park Hotel.

Earlier in March, McAfee shared photos of empty supermarkets where prices were in Catalan. He was also spotted earlier with local products: a bottle of Catalan Sumarroca cava wine, Spanish Bezoya water bottles, and ATO cream which was also made there.

The antivirus entrepreneur eventually admitted that he had been in Catalonia when he “visited Spain for a few days,” but, the group believed that this hotel was his long-term base.

McAfee was arrested on 3 October 2020 at the El Prat airport in Barcelona as he was planning to fly to Turkey. The next day McAfee was admitted to Brians 2 prison in Sant Esteve de Sesrovires after appearing before Spain’s high court. He was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in March. After the 75-year-old was found dead in his prison cell, speculation about him having a “dead man’s switch” began to circulate. Also, as per his earlier tweet, he indicated no intention to take his own life, on the contrary:

"I am content in here. I have friends. The food is good. All is well. Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine."

Source: John McAfee's Hideout Prior to Arrest Was a Secret Bitcoin Mining Farm – Fintechs.fi