A Denver, Colorado-based online pastor and his wife were indicted Tuesday on charges related to a cryptocurrency fraud scheme that raised more than $3 million from faith-based investors.

Online pastor Eli Regalado and his wife, Kaitlyn, were indicted on 40 counts stemming from what Denver District Attorney John Walsh described as a “multi-million-dollar cryptocurrency scam.”

Between January 2022 and July 2023, the Regalados allegedly solicited almost $3.4 million by encouraging people in their religious network to buy INDXcoin, a token they created and sold through the Kingdom Wealth Exchange platform.

They spent at least $1.3 million on personal expenditures, including a home renovation that they claimed “the Lord” told them to do, while only a small amount of the proceeds went to the business venture.

According to the indictment, at least 300 people invested in the token, which authorities say “maintained zero value,” resulting in total losses for all investors.

“These charges mark a major step forward in our work to hold the Regalados accountable for their alleged crimes and to bring a measure of justice to the victims,” said Denver District Attorney John Walsh in a Tuesday press release, adding:

“I want to thank the prosecutors and investigators in my office, and, particularly, the investigators with the Colorado Division of Securities and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, whose outstanding work on the case resulted in this indictment.”

Related: CoinDCX announces white hat recovery bounty after $44M hack

Pastor claims divine guidance

The indictment comes six months after the Colorado-based online pastor and his wife were charged with fraud for their role in issuing and marketing the INDXcoin scam token to their followers, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 22.

“We allege that Mr. Regalado took advantage of the trust and faith of his own Christian community and that he peddled outlandish promises of wealth to them when he sold them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies,” stated Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan at the time, adding:

“The complaint alleges that Regalado targeted Christian communities in Denver and claimed that God told him directly that investors would become wealthy if they put money into INDXcoin.”

Related: Multibillion-dollar HODL: Bitcoin whales awaken after 14 years

Cryptocurrency scams are a growing issue for retail investors. In May, an FBI-led investigation led to the arrest of a New Zealand-based man who allegedly stole $265 million worth of digital assets.

Authorities say the funds were used to buy luxury cars and designer goods.

Magazine: Inside a 30,000 phone bot farm stealing crypto airdrops from real users

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/colorado-pastor-and-wife-indicted-in-3-4m-crypto-scam/feed/ 0 49194 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/japans-remixpoint-buys-another-3-4m-worth-of-bitcoin/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/japans-remixpoint-buys-another-3-4m-worth-of-bitcoin/#respond Fri, 16 May 2025 03:44:31 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/japans-remixpoint-buys-another-3-4m-worth-of-bitcoin/ The Tokyo Exchange-listed Japanese firm Remixpoint has used its balance sheet to buy another $3.4 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC).

The crypto-keen auto and electricity trading company is the former owner of the crypto exchange BITPoint, which it sold to the securities giant SBI in 2023.

Per a Remixpoint investor relations document posted to its website on May 14 and a report from Japan’s CoinPost, the firm spent 500 million yen on Bitcoin on May 13, paying about 15.23 million yen (104,506) per BTC.

In total, the firm bought BTC 32.83, bringing the sum of its Bitcoin holdings to BTC 648.82.

Remixpoint: Bitcoin Buying Continues

Remixpoint’s BTC portfolio’s book value on May 14 was approximately 8.19 billion yen (56.2 million), with the holdings’ market valuation approximately 9.91 billion yen ($68 million).

The firm has also held on to its seizable Ethereum (ETH) and altcoin portfolio, the release continued.

Last year, the company announced it had bought Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), XRP, and Avalanche (AVAX) coins.

It is unclear if the firm has since sold its AVAX holdings, as it made no mention of the coins in its latest crypto holdings breakdown.

Per the statement, Remixpoint holds:

• ETH 901.45
• SOL 13,920
• XRP 1.19 million
• DOGE 2.8 million

The total value of its crypto holdings, calculated on May 13, was over 11.1 billion yen ($76 million).

Company Remains Crypto-keen

Despite the BITPoint sale, Remixpoint has continued to pursue crypto-related business avenues. The firm began its crypto-buying strategy in 2024.

And earlier this month, Remixpoint announced plans to launch crypto staking and validator business operations via a partnership with Omakase.

The latter is a validator with a record of operating nodes on at least 20 blockchain protocols.

The deal will see Omakase provide Remixpoint with technical support as the firm builds its own validation business arm.

Omakase will also provide operational monitoring and risk management services.

Japanese firms show no sign of slowing their Bitcoin-buying fervor. The famously Bitcoin-keen Metaplanet boosted the size of its own BTC holdings this month.

And TYO-listed gaming firms like Enish and Gumi have also launched ambitious BTC-buying strategies in recent weeks.

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