People come to the world of cryptocurrencies with the hope of getting rich. There is a famous saying attributed to Ron Hubbard: "If you want to get rich, make up your own religion". An American pastor from Colorado, Eli Regalado, inspired by ideas from the Internet, decided not to create his own religion because it requires a significant mental and financial investment.
Instead, Rev. Regalado created an online church after realizing that people increasingly preferred the internet over temples. Thus, he invited them to engage with the divine in a smartphone. However, a problem arose - unlike traditional temples, it is harder to sell services and worship items in an online church.
The solution came unexpectedly: create their own cryptocurrency, a kind of divine token. With online training and the help of experienced parishioners, the pastor developed his own token and sold it to online parishioners for the impressive sum of 3.4 million dollars.
However, as the saying goes, "God sees all." Suddenly, the Colorado Securities Regulator accused the pastor of illegally pocketing $1.3 million dollars from the sale of the cryptocurrency he created. A court in Colorado ordered the pastor and his wife's bank accounts closed for 14 days.
Securities official Tung Chan filed charges that Regalado failed to provide a return on investment to investors in his coin. According to the Denver Post, the pastor used the token proceeds to purchase luxury items such as a Range Rover, jewelry, handbags, dental procedures and even a yacht rental.
Regalado noted that he was inspired to create the cryptocurrency after a "visitation" from the Lord, who allegedly told him to give it to people for their enrichment. Despite the allegations, the pastor insists that his followers should "stay in INDX coins."
However, Chan claims in his lawsuit that INDX coins are significantly overpriced, describing them and the trading platform as "catastrophically technologically flawed." The judge ordered the bank accounts of Regalado and related companies to be closed for 14 days, as well as banning the pastor from selling his tokens in Colorado. Such unexpected turns of events show that "God's ways are inexplicable," and not always divine ideas converge with the laws of the human world.