Q-Anon conspiracy theorists hold signs during the protest at the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon, United States on May 2, 2020. (ohn Rudoff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Tom’s construction company, which built cell phone towers, was doing well before the pandemic hit. He was on course to break $1 million in revenue in 2021, but then the COVID-19 lockdown brought everything to a halt. Isolated at home in Washington State, Tom, 34, got interested in cryptocurrency.
He began talking to his brother James about the huge potential returns from crypto investments, and the pair began researching. Tom and James are not the brothers’ real names. VICE News granted them anonymity to protect their privacy.
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. He was determined not to miss out on another golden opportunity.
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. “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.
But 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. Soon, that same community was…
