MIT Technology Review has reconstructed how Eli and Kaitlyn Regalado, a Denver pastor and his wife, said they heard divine instructions before creating a cryptocurrency called INDXcoin.
Eli Regalado testified that he had been told, "Take this to my people for a wealth transfer."
How the coin spread through evangelical circles
The couple say they received holdings in a little-known digital token, then created and promoted INDXcoin through family, friends and contacts in evangelical circles.
Regalado preached for the online-only Victorious Grace Church, whose only two employees were the couple themselves, operating from their home, a recreational vehicle and vacation destinations.
Presentations to fellow pastors and evangelical Christians were dominated by prayer and Bible quotes, encouraging potential investors to have faith that the cryptocurrency would bring "abundance" and "blessings".
Where the money actually went
More than 300 people ultimately invested roughly $3.2 million in the token, according to Colorado's securities commissioner.
Investigators found that INDXcoin was "illiquid" and "essentially worthless" throughout its existence, meaning investors lost their money entirely.
Officials allege the Regalados used at least $1.3 million of investor funds to support a lavish lifestyle, including a Range Rover, jewellery, luxury handbags, cosmetic dentistry and home renovations.
Eli Regalado has since acknowledged in a video statement that the allegations of personal spending "are true", while maintaining that "God is not done with this project".
A Denver grand jury has since indicted the couple on 40 felony counts, including theft, securities fraud and racketeering.
A familiar pattern in niche crypto projects
Using mission, identity or religious authority to mobilise capital is a familiar pattern in niche cryptocurrency projects.
Mission narratives can speed up trust and recruitment, but they do not substitute for market liquidity, exchange infrastructure or transparent governance.
When the underlying token economics are weak, community trust can become concentrated financial risk instead of genuine investment.
A different kind of roadmap, in the same edition
The same MIT Technology Review edition included a separate item on climate intervention, reporting that the San Francisco-based group Reflective has published a detailed roadmap.
That roadmap lays out the experiments, studies and infrastructure the group says would be needed to make informed decisions about solar geoengineering.
Taken together, the two stories underline a similar point from very different angles: that community trust, whether religious or scientific, requires transparent structures to be verified, rather than authority or good intentions alone.
