The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Ayush Varshney, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Darwin Labs Private Limited, on Tuesday in connection with the high-profile GainBitcoin cryptocurrency fraud case.
According to officials, Varshney had been absconding for several months, prompting the issuance of a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him. On March 9, 2026, immigration authorities at airport intercepted him while he was attempting to leave the country. He was subsequently handed over to the CBI and formally arrested on March 10.
According to the CBI, the case involves an alleged Ponzi scheme operated by Variabletech Pte. Ltd., which lured investors with promises of high returns through cryptocurrency investments. “The funds collected from investors were subsequently misappropriated, leading to massive financial losses for thousands of victims across India,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
The agency is probing the matter under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The alleged Ponzi scheme launched by the late Amit Bhardwaj and Ajay Bhardwaj in 2015 promised investors 10 per cent monthly returns on Bitcoin investments for 18 months. Initial payouts were made in Bitcoin, but as the scheme collapsed in 2017, payouts were switched to an in-house cryptocurrency, MCAP, which had significantly lower value.
The investors then started approaching the police, after which FIRs were registered across the country, alleging large-scale fraud and money laundering.
“The ongoing investigation follows a Supreme Court order dated December 13, 2023, directing the CBI to act as the common investigating agency to probe multiple FIRs registered across states linked to the GainBitcoin fraud,” the spokesperson said.
During its investigation, the CBI found the involvement of Darwin Labs Private Limited and its co-founders Ayush Varshney, Sahil Baghla, and Nikunj Jain (currently Chief Capital Officer and Founder at Vaomi AI) in developing the technological backbone of the scheme.
“Darwin Labs reportedly built and maintained key components of the operation, including the crypto token MCAP and its ERC-20 smart contract, the bitcoin mining platform GBMiners.com, a bitcoin payment gateway, the Coin Bank wallet, and the GainBitcoin investor website,” the spokesperson said.
“These digital infrastructure elements enabled the fraudulent enterprise to attract, process, and divert investor funds under the guise of legitimate cryptocurrency trading and mining activities,” the spokesperson alleged.
Further investigation into the alleged roles of other co-founders and entities linked to the GainBitcoin network is underway, the CBI said.
