Eli Regalado, 44, speaks to supporters in a video on July 4, 2024. (YouTube)
Eli Regalado, the Denver pastor who made international headlines in January when he was accused of defrauding investors in a God-inspired cryptocurrency, is adamant that he has done nothing wrong, that his accusers are crooks and that his crypto will soon be coveted.
In three YouTube videos and an interview with BusinessDen, the 44–year-old struck a defiant tone, vowing to resume selling his cryptocurrency outside Colorado — he’s barred from doing so inside the state — and to fight and defeat a lawsuit that state regulators have filed.
“We are never, ever going to do a plea bargain. So, if it goes to trial, we’ll go all the way,” he said by phone. “And you can quote me on this, please quote me on this: The Division of Securities is not fighting against me, they’re fighting against God, and they will lose.”
In a video that he shot while sitting poolside July 4 and later apologized for, Regalado repeatedly accused Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan of being crooked.
“You are a liar, liar, liar,” he said of Chan. “I hope you get back in the office after your holiday and you see this and you see what you’ve done. Shame on you! You’re a crook.”
On Jan. 16, Chan and her Division of Securities sued Regalado, his wife Kaitlyn, their online church and their crypto company, INDXcoin. That lawsuit was later expanded to include a dozen people and companies who allegedly received commissions for selling INDXcoin.
“We remain focused on seeking justice under the Colorado Securities Act for the investors experiencing pain and financial loss due to Mr. Regalado’s fraudulent INDXcoin scheme,” Chan said in a statement last week. “We stand on the allegations made in the complaint.”
The state accuses the Regalados of committing civil securities fraud by selling $3.4 million in INDXcoin in 2022 and the first half of 2023, and spending that money on a Range Rover, jewelry, luxury handbags, home renovations and more. Then, after the exchange that the Regalados created for trading INDXcoin suddenly shut down last fall, investors lost their money.
Kaitlyn, left, and Eli Regalado. (Facebook)
“Let’s talk about the 800-pound gorilla, the allegation that Kaitlyn and I spent $1.3 million. We did,” Regalado said with a short laugh during an interview July 8. “I had to give $500,000 to the IRS for some tax debts, then the Lord said to start remodeling our house.”
Regalado contends the money was profit from the selling of INDXcoin and therefore theirs to spend. He claims that hundreds of thousands of dollars went to religious charities — the state disputes that — and that INDXcoin is not worthless and buyers have not lost out.
“People didn’t lose anything because it’s not over,” he said. “People are saying it’s worthless. Why are they saying it’s worthless? Because they can’t spend it. Could they have spent it while the exchange was up? Yes, they could have exchanged it. It’s not worthless.”
Regalado said that he is calling people who own more than 10,000 INDXcoin and asking them to invest in the project. If they do, he will create a new exchange. Then, when the global financial system collapses — something that Regalado has been predicting for years and considers imminent — people the world over will rush to buy INDXcoin, he expects.
When asked if he’s telling jilted buyers to simply wait, he said, “Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, that’s the message.” When asked how that’s going, he said, “It’s going great.”
A trial in the Division of Securities’ case against the Regalados has not yet been scheduled. Eli Regalado believes the case will hinge on whether INDXcoin is a security. He contends it is a “utility token” — a largely unregulated form of cryptocurrency — and not an investment.
“These allegations of fraud are propped up and based on the State of Colorado assuming that we are a security. If INDXcoin is seen as a security by a court of law then yes, we are guilty of securities fraud, but we have always maintained that we are a utility,” he said.
To date, the case in Denver District Court has not gone the Regalados’ way. Judge David Goldberg has denied their claim that he must dismiss the case because INDXcoin is not a security, barred them from selling investments here and frozen their assets.
“This case is a sad case for me. It’s one of the more egregious cases I have seen where someone in the name of faith, the name of God, preyed upon his congregants and he did so in the name of the Lord,” Goldberg said Jan. 29, calling it “a case of just unmitigated greed.”
Regalado said that he and his wife were largely unharmed by the asset freeze (“They were like, ‘We seized all of the assets!’ They didn’t seize anything”) and will keep selling INDXcoin. When asked if he feels bad that people who trusted him with their money lost it, he said no.
“People trusted the Lord with their money. As we said, pray about it and then do what you want and they bought in. It’s no different than Moses leading the Israelites out of the wilderness. So, no, I don’t feel bad, because I know what God is going to do. Now, does it look bad from a natural perspective? Of course it does, it looks like death. But that’s how God works.”
