Cabo Frio, the home of G.A.S. As revenues rose for the cryptocurrency investment firm G.A.S Consulting & Technology, enriching some early adopters, copycat firms sprang up, seeking to cash in on the craze. Cabo Frio, the home of G.A.S. As revenues rose for the cryptocurrency investment firm G.A.S Consulting & Technology, enriching some early adopters, copycat firms sprang up, seeking to cash in on the craze. As revenues rose for the cryptocurrency investment firm G.A.S Consulting & Technology, enriching some early adopters, copycat firms sprang up, seeking to cash in on the craze. founder, 38-year-old Glaidson Acacio dos Santos, came to be known as the "New Egypt" and as the town's top dog, dos Santos was the "Bitcoin Pharaoh." (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)" class="blkBorder img-share" />
Beachgoers congregate on Fort Beach in Cabo Frio, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec.
15, 2021.
At the same time, Brazil´s securities regulator was making digital currencies more attractive: It authorized the country´s investment funds to invest in cryptocurrencies in 2018, giving them greater credibility.
Last year, Brazil approved Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, only the second country in the world to do so.
25, alerted that dos Santos was planning to flee Brazil, federal police raided more than a dozen locations linked to G.A.S., including dos Santos' home where he was found with 13.8 million reais ($2.5 million) and taken into custody.
Agents also found hard drives containing 10 times that amount in Bitcoin, gold bars, jewelry and several sports cars, including a white Porsche Panamera and an electric blue BMW Z4 convertible.
Despite the long list of charges he faces, dos Santos represents an unlikely hero to his fervent supporters.
Many view him as a modest Black man whose unorthodox Bitcoin business made them wealthy by gaming a financial system they believe is rigged by wealthy white elites.
Sixteen other associates were also charged, including Diaz Zerpa, dos Santos' 38-year-old wife, who left the country weeks before the raid and is believed to be in Florida, according to authorities.
They say she withdrew more than 4,300 bitcoins worth $185 million (1 billion reais). AP attempts to locate her were unsuccessful.
He said one of his clients enlisted her husband, mother, brother, sister-in-law and an 82-year-old aunt, investing a total 822,000 reais (about $150,000). The true tally is likely much higher, said Luciano Regis, a lawyer representing dozens of victims.
Regis, a lawyer representing victims of G.A.S Consulting & Technology, a cryptocurrency investment firm founded by a former waiter-turned-multimillionaire who has become the central figure in what is alleged to be one of Brazil's biggest-ever pyramid schemes. Regis, a lawyer representing victims of G.A.S Consulting & Technology, a cryptocurrency investment firm founded by a former waiter-turned-multimillionaire who has become the central figure in what is alleged to be one of Brazil's biggest-ever pyramid schemes.
Lawyer Luciano Regis, 35, during an interview in Sao Pedro da Aldeia, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec.
15, 2021. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)" class="blkBorder img-share" style="max-width:100%" />
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