Who is Renato Costa, CEO of Global Edge Worldwide Fund, that just promised US$100 million for ONE Amazon?
Featuring ONE Amazon, Gorilla Technology, Global Edge Worldwide Fund, BrasilInvest-ADIG Fund, Zayed Bin Rashid Bin Aweidha Al Qubaisi, the Bear Cave, and Citron Research.
A company called Global Edge Worldwide Fund has pledged US$100 million to ONE Amazon’s crypto, blockchain, A.I. surveillance plans for cashing in on the Amazon rainforest. That’s according to a press release from Gorilla Technology Group, which in February 2025 announced that it had signed an agreement with ONE Amazon.
Incidentally, Gorilla Technolgy is incorporated in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands. Here’s a screenshot from the company’s FAQs page on its website:
The press release states that,
ONE Amazon is now positioned to move from vision to execution, ensuring that the Amazon’s protection is not only an environmental necessity but a long-term economic opportunity that benefits both investors and the planet.
And Renato Costa, CEO of Global Edge Worldwide Fund, adds,
“ONE Amazon represents the future of environmental finance — a bold, scalable model that turns nature into a tangible, investable asset. Our $100 million commitment is not just an investment but a statement that the world’s natural capital must be protected and valued. Rodrigo Veloso and the ONE AMAZON team are pioneering a new asset class that will redefine the intersection of sustainability and finance for decades to come.”
Meanwhile, two weeks ago Jay Chandan, CEO of Gorilla Technology Group, announced on LinkedIn that Renato Costa has just announced a US$100 billion investment in Brazil:
Renato Costa
Renato Costa made the announcement in an interview with CNN Brasil. Costa is the CEO of a company called BrasilInvest-ADIG Fund. Costa said that the US$100 billion investment was just the start, and the investment could reach US$350 billion.
BrasilInvest Group is a private development bank and investment company that was established in Brazil in 1975 by Mário Garnero. The company was embroiled in a financial scandal in the 1980s. Garnero was convicted of fraud and embezzlement, but the conviction was subsequently overturned in court.
In 2022, O Globo reported that five startups had fallen for scams run by Renato Costa, owner of a company called RC Group which is based in New York. RC Group promised to invest in the startups and took an advanced fee. The investment never materialised and Renato Costa and the advanced fee disappeared.
According to O Globo in 2022 there were 18 lawsuits in the the Court of Justice of São Paulo against Renato Costa and his former company RC Prime Operações e Negócios. Seven of the lawsuits were active, 11 had been suspended because the courts were unable to formally summon him. There were also six labour lawsuits against RC Prime.
O Globo journalist Malu Gaspar told InvestNews that the lawsuits against Renato Costa include “everything from a bad check for R$6,500 to a conviction for him to pay R$272,000 to a real estate rental company”. A 2019 lawsuit accuses him of stealing two rented cars.
InvestNews reports Renato Costa as saying that he was “never reported to the courts”.
Zayed Bin Rashid Bin Aweidha Al Qubaisi
The BrasilInvest-ADIG Fund is an joint venture of BrasilInvest and the Abu Dhabi Investment Group (ADIG). The CEO of ADIG is Zayed Bin Rashid Bin Aweidha Al Qubaisi from the United Arab Emirates.
In November 2024, BrasilInvest’s Garnero arranged a meeting between Zayed Bin Aweidha and President Lula. They discussed the “United Arab Emirates’ strategy for development and investment in Brazil” and President Lula “highlighted COP30” which will take place in Belém in November 2025.
GulfToday reports that, while they spoke about wind and solar projects and a “low-carbon economy”, fossil fuels were also on the agenda:
Zayed Bin Aweidha expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to meet with President Lula da Silva to boost cooperation between the UAE and Brazil, particularly in the oil and gas sector.
GulfToday reports that,
President Lula da Silva and Zayed bin Aweidha explored investment opportunities across Brazil’s strategic sectors, particularly the degraded pasture restoration, industrial development, sustainable mobility, and urban infrastructure.
The investment would exceed US$100 billion, according to GulfToday.
The BrasilInvest-ADIG Fund was set up in February 2025, following the meeting between Zayed Bin Aweidha and President Lula. Renato Costa told InvestNews that “the alliance with ADIG was formed during a visit to the Planalto Palace in November of last year”.
Garnero is the fund’s chairman. The vice-chairman in Luciano Coutinho, who was president of the Brasilia Development Bank BNDES from 2007 to 2016.
The United Arab Emirates Embassy confirmed to InvestNews that ADIG is “an entity linked to the country’s Sovereign Wealth Fund”. But since 2012, the Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, has invested just US$6 billion in Brazil.
InvestNews points out that Zayed Bin Aweidha has something of a record of making big promises of investments, without delivering:
2017: Zayed announced a US$100 billion investment in Turkey. No money was transferred.
2020: Zayed announced a mega-investment In Tunisia. No money was transferred.
2020: ADIG promised US$275 million to the Australian fintech Xinja Bank. No money was transferred. Xinja went bankrupt.
The Bear Cave and Citron Research
On 3 March 2025, Edwin Dorsey, who runs a Substack called The Bear Cave about short selling, published an article titled, “Problems at Gorilla Technology Group”. Dorsey highlights “cautionary flags” about Gorilla, including the company’s 1,200% stock price increase over six months.
Dorsey points out a series of deals and Memorandums of Understanding that are not finalised, but are hyping the company. One of the deals is with ONE Amazon, but there are many others.
On 17 March 2025, Citron Research, an online stock commentary website, posted on Twitter that the Securities and Exchange Commission should halt trading in Gorilla Technologies:
Citron Research was founded by Andrew Left in 2008. Left and his company face a charge from the Securities and Exchange Commission for putting out statements about companies, then reversing the position to profit from stock price movements. The charge accuses Left of having “bought back stock immediately after telling his readers to sell, and he sold stock immediately after telling his readers to buy”.
Left denies the charges. His trial is set for September 2025.
This guy called his organisation the Global Edge Fund and expected people to take that seriously.
above quote: "... Renato Costa, has just announced a $100 billion investment in Brazil! This is a monumental commitment that will drive economic growth, sustainability and innovation across the country."
Exactly how is "economic growth" and "sustainability" actually sustainable? Economic growth and maintaining a functioning ecosystem certainly are not compatible. Also, money poured out on the land creates debt which needs debt servicing which means extractive exploitation.