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Colorado pastor charged for cryptocurrency scam he perpetrated at God's command
- paulgb 3y agoThis detail didn’t make it into the summary, but the audacity of it gave me a laugh. > Hacken, a cybersecurity company, audited the cryptocurrency, according to INDXcoin’s website. State investigators, who obtained copies of Hacken’s audits, say that the Regalados fail to mention that Hacken gave it a rating of “zero out of 10.”
- Uptrenda 3y agoI can see it now: 'your system is horribly and laughably insecure. Please don't launch with this plan.' Is then turned to: 'we have been independently audited by a third-party' (((no need to mention what they said)))
- kstrauser 3y agoFlashbacks to Mad Magazine: “This [terrible] idea will change [nothing positively, but will cause] the world [to eat itself].”
- bsenftner 3y agoI'm quite surprised the crypto-scam "geniuses" and the Prosperity Gospel criminals did not join forces. Put those two together, and you've got a con worthy of taking over the Republicans...
- tomaytotomato 3y agoThis was clearly the work of the devil...
- foofie 3y agoThat's the gist if it, isn't it? If the scam works it's Divine Providence, but if the scam blows up in their face then the devil made them do it. What matters the most is that it's never their responsibility and thus they are never responsible and accountable for anything they do.
- zaphar 3y agoUnder christian theology the devil made me do it isn't an excuse it's a condemnation. The blame still lies entirely with you. That is in fact the whole point.
- foofie 3y agoThat's a good observation, but the part where this breaks down is that these evangelists are clearly not Cristian.
- zaphar 3y agoYou are correct which is why it's important to call them out on that.
- baobabKoodaa 3y ago> these evangelists are clearly not Cristian No true scottsman would ever have perpetrated such a scam. In fact, true scottsmen never do anything bad.
- foofie 3y ago> No true scottsman would ever have perpetrated such a scam. I'm not referring to the scam. I'm referring to not abiding by basic tenets of the Christian faith.
- baobabKoodaa 3y agoSome members of _your faith_ perpetrated a scam, and you're trying to deny their membership in your group. Sure you can make up whatever reason you want to do that. That's the basic way of implementing a "no true scottsman" argument. Just make some shit up.
- foofie 3y ago> Some members of _your faith_ (...) It's not my faith. Also, televangelists aren't christian either. Again, those who fail to follow the basic tenets of a religion cannot claim to be followers of said religion. > That's the basic way of implementing a "no true scottsman" argument. Either you haven't got the point or you're just trying to be contrarian. I think the point I made is clear and easy to understand. I won't repeat myself.
- MandieD 3y ago“Pastor for an online ministry” - the cool new way to say “televangelist,” and apparently just as trustworthy.
- thanatos519 3y ago"televandalist"
- numbsafari 3y agoIt’s a smashing success.
- spoiler 3y agoI didn't know televangelist were a thing until a year or two ago, and remember having my mind blown (in a "but why" way). How is that a thing. Why do so many people fall for it? How do these people get discovered. The only reason I know about them is because of a meme YouTube video where a reporter drilled a televangelist on camera. Aside: may I propose we style the Internet variety as eVangelists?
- Pirvax 3y agoCounter proposal: how about iVangelist?
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y agoI’ve genuinely gotta ask: is not having heard of this an age thing, or a location thing?
- ionwake 3y agoLocation. Like male circumcision it simply doesnt exist outside of the USA, unless you count random african countries like Ghana. No idea why, if anyone wants to enlighten me let me know.
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- keepamovin 3y agoIf you have divine prescience is that insider trading? Would the SEC prosecute based on oracular accuracy? Would RFJ pay out on that even?
- throwaway421967 3y agoOnly if god is a director/exec or someone subject to a non-disclosure agreement. According to answers to this question, "Is it insider trading if I bought Boeing puts while I am inside the wrecked airplane?" [1] "Insider trading, I like to say, is not about fairness, it’s about theft. It’s illegal to trade on information that isn’t public and that you have some duty to keep secret" - Matt Levine [1] - https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/98706/is-it-insider-trading-if-i-bought-boeing-puts-while-i-am-inside-the-wrecked-airp https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/98706/is-it-insider-...
- keepamovin 3y agoThis is hilarious, thank you! Hahaha! :) Next time the plane goes down, have to remember that: crack open the brokerage account, ladel on the puts hahaha :) might even be an incentive to start taking MAXes preferentially :ghost_face:
- cm2187 3y agoHow do you tell a scam coin from a non scam one? It's like a cult vs a religion, as far as I can tell the only difference is popularity.
- scandox 3y agoThe difference between a cult and a religion is this: a cult wants it all but a religion just wants their cut.
- throwup238 3y agoI’ve heard it phrased differently: the difference between a religion and a cult is that in a religion the person at the top of the pyramid making the most money is dead.
- Aerbil313 3y agoBruh. It’s 2024. Can we stop assuming only religion on the face of earth is Christianity?
- toyg 3y agoMuhammad and Siddharta are dead too.
- tialaramex 3y agoMuslims would be pretty firm that Mo was just a prophet. They're worshipping God, not this prophet bloke. The Christians have this neat hack where their prophet guy literally was God. If you haven't grown up with it, the logic of Trinitarianism is completely batshit but if you grew up around Christians it just seems normal. An Iranian friend was astonishing that Unitarianism wasn't the default because it seemed less crazy. Now, we do say "God is dead" but by that we don't mean in the sense that "Mohammed is dead" or "Elvis is dead" or "Margaret Thatcher is dead". We're talking about the idea, and so that's rejected by the Faithful.
- gumby 3y agoHe should have called it the INRIcoin, that couldn’t have failed!
- JohnMakin 3y agoWhat’s funny is if he promises eternal rewards instead of $$$ this isn’t illegal at all.
- throwup238 3y agoHe’s a pastor, not a priest. They have a whole thing about indulgences. It’s kinda their founding prohibition. Though based on this guy’s fundamental moral failings, that probably wouldn’t have stopped him…
- dash2 3y agoThat's a brilliant idea: indulgences on the blockchain!
- numbsafari 3y agoNon Fungible Absolution?
- mcpeepants 3y agoforget Tether, bullish on Tither
- shadowgovt 3y agoJust wait for the chain to fork from an argument over whether proof of work is necessary or proof of faith is sufficient.
- klyrs 3y agoAre we putting confessions on the blockchain too?
- edgyquant 3y agoThat isn’t funny and there isn’t a widely accepted intrinsic value to eternal paradise. You’re just anti-religious and want the excuse to let us all know
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- lawgimenez 3y agohttps://youtu.be/ACKzBy8nOxY?si=a9PeYp-syJyPmKWK https://youtu.be/ACKzBy8nOxY?si=a9PeYp-syJyPmKWK
- graemep 3y ago> Who knew God was a degen! That is a great line. > Regalado had told investors that the funds would be going to "widows and orphans", but spent most of it on himself and his wife. Maybe his parents are dead and his wife was windowed in the previous marriage :) He actually contradicts himself as he denies spending the money on himself and hiss wife, and admits spending money on a home renovation "the Lord told us to do". I thought when someone said something like "your house looks divine" it was a metaphor!
- danShumway 3y agoIt would be a strong defense, except I heard that unfortunately the prosecutors were all told in a dream by God to prosecute him for fraud. Nothing they can do about it except move forward with the charges, it's just God's will that there be legal consequences for this. /j
- morelisp 3y agoWas there actually any cryptographic aspect to this, or was he even lying about it being a “cryptocurrency”? He’s taking money on Venmo and running an “exchange” that trades only in this coin. It would be interesting if “cryptocurrency” is now this entrenched as a synecdoche for any scrip-y scam.
- nickpsecurity 3y agoFollowers of Jesus Christ are commanded and equipped to test prophets rather than blindly believing them. Here's God's Word on that: "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let’s go after other gods” (which you have not known) “and let’s serve them,” you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice. You shall serve him, and cling to him." (Deut. 13:1-4) "But those who are determined to be rich (greedy) fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Tim. 6:9-10) More Scripture on that topic: https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/is-gambling-a-sin/ https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/is-gambling-a... Knowing these, we can look at the cryptocurrency market to see it's mostly gambling, get rich quick schemes, attempts to rebel at authority (esp IRS), unstable, and often with illegal activity. This would keep us away from most of that even if we'd consider it for legitimate instruments or smart contracts. Anything that's helpful, not sinful, is a gift from God who raises up many brilliant inventors to solve our problems. Even indirectly like how smart contracts inspired millions to be invested in tooling for verifying software. With that general impression, we look at the guy starting a cryptocurrency with high skepticism. We'd say: "Brother, why would a man of God charged with preaching Christ dying for our sins and moving money to society's helpless need a cryptocurrency? Are you serving God or money? And should the church's money be focused on such things? If you lack a Biblical answer, then perhaps you have been tempted by the Devil to set your heart on the wrong things. Please pray God helps you overcome this, focus on what truly matters, and serve Him faithfully." And we'd pray for them. And God would help them overcome temptation or set an example of who to protect His flock from.
- muglug 3y agoThe verses from Deuteronomy aren’t a clear-cut condemnation, because they refer to following other gods vs the God of the old testament. Deuteronomy was transcribed at a time when there were a ton of potential gods for the Israelites to follow. The Bible also has lots of stories of people taking incredible risks to follow the leaders God chose for them, so I'm not sure it has great advice for biblically-minded investors under the sway of a greedy pastor.
- xrd 3y agoGod only gives total losses like that to his strongest cryptocurrency soldiers.
- 29athrowaway 3y agoIn a superdeterministic universe, that would be probably true.
- spamizbad 3y agoLots of people mocking the “God commanded me to do X” but if you’re familiar with evangelical Christian culture, this line gets used to justify all sorts of behavior and life decisions that might go against what one would traditionally expect a devout Christian to avoid. Obviously fraud and financial crimes are an extreme version of this, but it’s a line I’ve heard to justify all sorts of legal albeit self-destructive behavior. “I know I should be saving money for a house but god spoke to me and I spent the downpayment on <fancy car that’ll get repo’d in a year>”
- test77777g 3y agoI’m an atheist and frequent places where men have anonymous gay sex and the majority of the men are “devout” Christians for me it’s a kink, I don’t feel a lot of guilt, and neither do they, lies are their choice and it shows.
- retrac 3y ago> I don’t feel a lot of guilt, and neither do they I can tell you haven't tried to date such guys. They may not feel enough guilt to keep them from engaging in casual sex, but many of them absolutely feel guilt. Indeed, sometimes it's a complex of immovable guilt and shame, in the style of classic Freud, with the entire panoply of coping mechanisms deployed to deal with the dissonance (projection, affect isolation, displacement, dissociation, reaction formation, etc.)
- ametrau 3y agoThis is how we incubate various diseases. Monkey pox being a good example (but it’s origin story doesn’t get mentioned because it goes against the current zeitgeist).
- LNSY 3y agoIt's been used to justify all sorts of child abuse, also. Going back to Abraham's abuse of his son Isaac and Lot and his Daughters.
- batch12 3y agoChristianity isn't the only religion abused by flawed people to do bad things. Its more of a reflection of the people involved and not the religion. It's sad.
- blantonl 3y agoHustle culture is the new set of MLM/Ponzi schemes of our time. It is a scourge on humanity, and I see no redeeming ways for participants to enjoy real, honest, legal success. I've watched participants of hustle culture in my immediate vicinity in life, and it almost always leads to participants venturing into dubious or flat out illegal activities to fund their "fake it till you make it" lifestyle. I'm convinced that the vast majority of these folks are either selling unlicensed securities, sham interests in social media / crypto / real estate / commodities / life coach etc, or they are stealing directly from the federal government via tax shams and assistance programs. The sheer number of hustle culture participants that "participated" in PPP (paycheck protection program) for example fraud is frightening.
- skocznymroczny 3y agoThese days they are probably transitioning to AI scams or "keto supplements" as the new best thing.
- Pat_Murph 3y agoCombining 2 grifts, religion and crypto. Story as old as time. Take religion, the perfect tool designed to manipulate the credulous masses and now add the latest grift of the moment and take in the money... And when you get called out, blame god. And these evangelicals claim to be morally superior than the rest of us. Pfff
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- kepler1 3y agoI guess if a core part of your belief system is that an unexplainable deity speaks through only certain people who you need to trust without good reason to, small problems like this sometimes happen! Oh well, acceptable losses, right?
- solardev 3y agoWhy can't God be fairer about his commands? Some people get all the fun ones and I get stuck updating package.json every week.
- jimberlage 3y ago"So the charges are that Kaitlyn and I pocketed $1.3 million, and I just want to come out and say that those uh charges are true," said Regalado in the video, presumably causing a cold chill to run down the spine of his defense attorney in the middle of whatever he was doing. You know when you have a task that it feels impossible to complete in your current role because of external factors? Management troubles, massive tech debt, etc. I wonder if that's how his lawyer feels about winning this case.
- loeg 3y agoFrequently the role of a defense lawyer is to negotiate the best available guilty plea.
- hereme888 3y ago"A Christian did something bad, let's insult God and Christianity!" That's the point of this article and its title. But no one cares about the missionaries who risk their lives to benefit others, and all positive things are thrown out the window. Then, let's blame God because a human did something bad "in His name." See the irrationality of the "logic"?
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- kevin_thibedeau 3y agoMost missionaries are engaged in the selfish pursuit of a free vacation. Otherwise they could stay home and deliver alms to their local impoverished masses.
- hereme888 3y agoMay I know what source you're using for saying "most missionaries" globally are like that?
- loeg 3y agoI read it completely differently. It is especially audacious and egregious that this guy claimed defrauding his followers was god's will. That doesn't reflect badly on christianity; it reflects badly on him.
- hereme888 3y agoGlad you do. But lots of commenters see it as I wrote, hence I made my comment.
- blantonl 3y agoThe vast majority of missionary work these days is virtue signaling disguised as a grift.
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- NelsonMinar 3y agoAffinity fraud is one of the most successful kinds of scams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_fraud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_fraud This one seems to be two in-groups at once. Believers in cryptocurrency and believers in a particular type of Christian god.
- 15457345234 3y agoTo a certain extent participation in organised religion is an indicator of the propensity of the subject to be manipulated.
- NelsonMinar 3y agoSo is participation in cryptocurrency.
- 15457345234 3y agoagree
- bsdpufferfish 3y agoThis post and the commments it attracts seems more appropriate for /r/atheism. It’s not technology (what about a stripe scam pastor?) and it’s not something interesting that wouldn’t be peddled in gossip journalism.
- loeg 3y agoCryptocurrency-related topics frequently make the front page. At the end of the day, what's appropriate for this site is what its readers find interesting.
- bsdpufferfish 3y agoThere is a specified rule and popular posts are constantly removed for allegedly breaking it.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago"god says scam the rubes"