Cryptocurrencies, Children from Uganda, and an Accusation Shaking Flavio Bolsonaro's Campaign

BRASILIA.-- Just over two weeks before the runoff on October 25 in Brazil, the coalition supporting the re-election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva filed a complaint with the Electoral Justice against a cryptocurrency site that distributes tokens to those who promote on social media an initiative calling for votes for Flavio Bolsonaro. The government requested the identification of those responsible and an investigation into possible crimes, while the senator's campaign denied any connection and announced legal actions to take down the page.

The project is called Brasil 22 Token and its currency, B22, refers to the number with which the senator, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), competes in the elections. The initiative, revealed by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, presents itself as a movement that combines support for the "vote 22" with a charitable cause: helping HypersKids, a children's dance group from Uganda, finish their house in Kampala, the capital of that country.

HypersKids is not unknown on social media. It consists of children from an orphanage in Kampala and gained global fame in 2024 when their audition on America's Got Talent was met with a standing ovation and approval from all four judges. Their Instagram profile currently has 12.9 million followers. This profile is the visible face of the project.

In a video that exceeded 1.2 million views, the children danced wearing yellow shirts with the inscription B22 and sang a Bolsonaro-themed jingle calling to vote and confirm the 22. "Please trust Nikolas Ferreira, Flavio Bolsonaro, Pablo Marçal", they asked on camera, naming alongside the candidate a Bolsonaro-supporting deputy and the businessman and influencer who is part of his campaign. The video was deleted on Thursday night.

The text accompanying the video announced that the group had received 120 million tokens and invited people to buy the currency and earn more by convincing others to vote for 22. According to the complaint from the official coalition Brasil Pronto pra Mais, the post appeared eleven minutes after the digital wallet that created the asset transferred those tokens to another attributed to the Ugandan group.

The project's own audience is much more modest. Its account on X, @Brasil22Token, which carries the name "Brasil Bolsonaro" and defines itself in English as "the biggest political meme in Brazil," was created this month and had 199 followers on Thursday night. The Telegram group, which includes the candidate's surname in its address, had about 12,000 members.

The repercussions of the case infiltrated the chat. "It's coming out on all news channels, they are going to ruin Flavio's campaign", warned a participant on Thursday afternoon. An administrator countered: "Are you just going to criticize? Or are you going to support the cause?" The exchange ended with mutual accusations of being "petista".

The site offers 30,000 tokens to each of the first thousand people who post on X, Instagram, or TikTok that they are part of the "B22 community", with registration until October 26, the day after the second round. To sign up, one must have at least 10,000 tokens in a digital wallet beforehand.

According to the coalition's calculations, the 120 million tokens delivered to the Ugandan group were worth about 104,500 reais - around 20,900 dollars - on Thursday, and the asset would have moved around 1.06 million reais - about 212,000 dollars - in 24 hours.

Behind the dissemination is Kevim Flores, whose profiles on X and Instagram promote the token, although he does not present himself as the owner of the site, according to Folha. In a message directed at bettors ("The bets are over in Brazil"), he promised a valuation of over 3000% until the election.

According to the coalition's presentation before the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on Thursday night, Flores acknowledged himself as the creator of the token in an Instagram live and clarified the objective: "We are going to get several people who voted for 13 to share B22 on their social networks," he said, referring to Lula's number. The broadcast was made from Nahuel Medina's profile, whom the document describes as a partner of Marçal and who offered to introduce him.

Bolsonaro, Marçal, and Medina are listed as accused. The site claims that support for vote 22 is a personal position, which has no ties to parties or candidates, does not guarantee financial return, and the distribution of tokens does not depend on voting or the dissemination of propaganda.

For Lula's coalition, this contradicts the messages from the organizers themselves. Brazilian legislation prohibits offering economic advantages to those who disseminate electoral propaganda on the internet and forbids companies from financing campaigns.

Jurists consulted by the g1 portal warned that the irregularity depends on proving that the tokens are tied to publishing favorable content for a candidate, and that to sanction the beneficiary, it must be demonstrated that they were aware of the maneuver.

The closest precedent is that of Marçal himself. The Electoral Justice disqualified him for eight years for rewarding followers with money who most disseminated clips of his videos during the campaign for the mayoralty of São Paulo in 2024, in a ruling confirmed in December by a regional court and still under appeal.

The complaint to the Federal Police requests to identify those responsible and investigate the use of a commercial structure to make propaganda or attract voters and a possible vote-buying scheme. It also demands the preservation of records from Instagram, X, and Telegram, and requests judicial cooperation from the United States.

In parallel, the coalition promoted actions before the TSE for paid propaganda on the internet and for alleged abuse of economic power, figures that in Brazil can lead to the annulment of a candidacy, and requested intervention from child protection agencies due to the use of children's images.

It also demanded to suspend the domain of the site and apply a daily fine of 50,000 reais (10,000 dollars) if the distribution of tokens continues.

"The dispute may be intense, but the decision about the future of the country must belong to the Brazilians", stated the coalition in a statement, rejecting that the distribution of financial advantages could influence the election.

The senator's campaign distanced itself from the case. "The campaign disclaims authorship of the cited site and has no relation to its content or the sale of cryptocurrencies", it stated in a statement, in which it anticipated that its legal team would present measures in electoral, civil, and criminal jurisdictions to take down the page. "There are no profiles hired by Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign to make propaganda, whether of products or content", it added, and maintained that all its official channels were reported to the TSE and comply with the legislation.

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