In addition to being arrested on suspicion of running a cryptocurrency pyramid scheme, Glaidson Acácio dos Santos, better known as “Bitcoin Pharaoh”, is now also being investigated at the administrative level of the Brazilian Securities Commission (CVM). The autarchy accuses Santos of fraudulent operation with securities and offering without registration and waiver. This new posture of the “big boss” of the market is being closely observed by specialists, for giving indications of how the collegiate will react to the next cases involving the trading of cryptoassets in the Brazil.
Read more: More and more cryptocurrency companies are declaring bankruptcy
see more
More than 27,000 children were victims of crime in 2022, says UN
Meet the 5 most infamous serial killers in history (the fifth is more…
In August 2021, the fraud came to light when the Federal Police started Operation Kryptos, revealing a billionaire scheme of fraudulent transactions in the cryptocurrency market, attributed to Santos, which started in Cabo Frio, in the Lagos region of Rio de January. At the time, it promised monthly income of 10% to customers.
In 2019, the CVM had already received complaints about this scheme, but at that time, it was believed that the case did not concern securities, which removed it from the sphere of action of the autarchy. However, with access to investigative data, it was observed that Santos invested part of the client's resources in crypto assets, as anticipated by the newspaper O Globo.
“The previous collegiate understood that it was not a public offering of securities. Now, the CVM analyzed the case again and concluded that they were raising popular savings in form of public offer of collective investment contract, which they called arbitration of cryptocurrencies”, says Leonardo Ugatti Peres, partner at the law firm Azeredo Santos & Ugatti Peres and member of the OAB Capital Market Commission.
For Otavio Yazbek, who was director of the autarchy between 2009 and 2013, “the great difficulty is that, in principle, currency is not a security”.
“There is a normal difficulty in dealing with crypto issues as you have to determine whether it is a security or not. Coins are not, but what is created with them is.”, explains Yazbek. “The problem with ‘Pharaoh’ is the pyramid structure. It is not about pure crypto, but about offering participation in a structure that will generate results, that is, an investment product issued to raise funds”, completed.
Glaidson Acácio dos Santos even launched his candidacy as a federal deputy for Rio. Unanimously, the TRE-RJ (Regional Electoral Court) barred his candidacy, but an appeal to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) is still possible. Santos is pre-trial detained.
Lover of movies and series and everything that involves cinema. An active curious on the networks, always connected to information about the web.
