There’s a story that has been going around for a long time about Daniel Fraga, the guy who was known as one of the biggest Bitcoin defenders in Brasil. Well, recently, a pair of investigators decided to verify whether he was really alive or if he was just an internet legend.

It all started when they noticed a verified Instagram profile with Fraga’s name and photo. People were asking: was it real or just another fake? Pietro believed it was hard to get verification like that, but Pedro pointed out several red flags. Missing original videos, selling content through the direct message—those kinds of things don’t match the history of someone who used to create a lot on YouTube.

The interesting detail is that this profile picture had already been revealed as generated by artificial intelligence back in 2024. There was even a fake LinkedIn profile saying that he was living in Suíça. Clearly, Daniel Fraga is alive somewhere, but the question was where and how.

The investigators went further and entered Fraga’s email on a data-leak website. They found old information linked to an address in Ribeirão Preto, about 3 and a half hours from São Paulo. They decided to travel there to investigate in person.

When they arrived at the building, the doorman said he didn’t know anyone with that name, but the caretaker was more helpful. Maurício confirmed that Daniel Fraga was alive and that he had lived there between 2020 and 2021, describing him as a very reserved and intelligent person. He revealed that Fraga moved out abruptly, getting everything done in about three days. After that, his sister occupied the apartment for a while.

The most intriguing part is that Fraga needed to disappear from the spotlight, lose access to his passport, and give up content creation that he apparently liked. All of this led the investigators to a conclusion that was very different from what many people imagine: Daniel Fraga didn’t defeat Estado—Estado defeated Daniel Fraga.

What about that verified Instagram profile with more than 250,000 followers? Confirmed as a scam. Someone using his image to sell courses and carry out scams. The story that seemed epic on the internet is much sadder in reality. A guy who lost everything, including his freedom of movement and expression. It shows how an online narrative is much more beautiful than real life, right.