Brief - The Hustle

The Lord minteth in the weirdest alleged crypto scam yet

Written by Juliet Bennett Rylah | Jan 25, 2024 7:41:18 AM

Build an ark, sacrifice your only son, mint a new cryptocurrency. 

Eligio Regalado — pastor of the online-only Victorious Grace Church in Colorado — and his wife, Kaitlyn, are accused of scamming $3m+ off a token backed not by gold, but God.

Uh, what? 

Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan alleges that between June 2022 and April 2023, the Regalados sold their token, INDXcoin, to 300+ investors via their platform, Kingdom Wealth Exchange. 

They claimed the coin, which sold for $1.50 each, was linked to especially valuable tokens and worth at least $10 each, according to the lawsuit.  

The problem:

  • They had no experience in crypto.
  • They were selling unregistered securities without a license.
  • The token was plagued with technical problems and was, in reality, worthless.

Chan accused the couple of pocketing $1.3m+ of the ~$3.2m raised and spending it on luxury items, vacations, an au pair, and a home remodel.

Where is your god now?

Still around, per Regalado, who posted a video explaining that, yes, they did finance their home remodel with the money — but that’s because God told them to

In fact, it was God who instructed the Regalados to leave their marketing business in 2021 and create a new token, saying “Take this to my people for a wealth transfer.” God would go on to offer very specific cryptocurrency advice, including when to tell investors to HODL. 

Regalado maintains his role as a crypto prophet, saying, “Either I misheard God… or God is still not done with this project.” 

Your move, God.