They were linked to the tokens themselves, raking in millions of dollars from investors like Tom.

Tom was actively following two major Telegram accounts, known as Whiplash347 and PatriotQakes, which were promoting dozens of tokens linked to the Stellar blockchain, the world’s third most popular crypto network behind Bitcoin and Ethereum.īut what Tom didn’t know was that these influencers weren’t simply providing neutral investment advice, as they claimed. Soon, that same community was providing him with cryptocurrency investment advice. “I have always played it pretty safe, I never really overspent on crypto in any way that would compromise my family’s financial stability,” he said.īut Tom’s research led him in a different direction, and like many stuck at home and isolated due to the pandemic, he was sucked into the QAnon conspiracy theory community. So, after a few months of research, James invested some money in XRP, a cryptocurrency linked to the Ripple network, and a couple of other cryptocurrency tokens. He was determined not to miss out on another golden opportunity.

Back in 2014, James had nearly invested $100,000 in Bitcoin (an investment that would be worth over $6 million today) but he put the money towards a house for his family instead, he told VICE News.

Telegram whiplash347