CBI has arrested Darwin Labs cofounder and CTO Ayush Varshney in connection with the GainBitcoin cryptocurrency fraud case
The matter relates to an alleged Ponzi scheme operated under the banner of Variabletech Pte Ltd
Earlier, Inc42 reported that Darwin Lab was also accused of receiving a 20% cut from the venture
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested crypto startup Darwin Labs cofounder and CTO Ayush Varshney in connection with the GainBitcoin cryptocurrency fraud case.
The matter relates to an alleged Ponzi scheme operated under the banner of Variabletech Pte Ltd, where investors invested in a cryptocurrency programme on the promise of high returns. These funds were subsequently misappropriated.
“During the course of investigation, the role of Darwin Labs Pvt Ltd and its cofounders, including accused Ayush Varshney, Sahil Baghla and Nikunj Jain (Chief Capital Officer/founder in Vaomi AI), emerged in relation to the design, development and deployment of the crypto token known as MCAP and the corresponding ERC-20 smart contract,” the probe agency noted.
Further, it is alleged that Darwin Labs helped develop key technological infrastructure used in the scheme, including the Bitcoin mining pool platform, GBMiners.com, a Bitcoin payment gateway, the “Coin Bank Bitcoin” wallet, and the GainBitcoin investor-facing website.
Notably, Varshney was absconding and had a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him. On March 9, 2026, he was intercepted by immigration authorities at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai while attempting to leave the country. He was subsequently handed over to the CBI and formally arrested the following day.
While Varshney had not been arrested earlier in the case, the police previously arrested the startup’s other cofounders of Darwin Labs – Jain and Baghla – who were reportedly partners of Amit Bhardwaj in his CoinBank venture.
Earlier, Inc42 reported that Darwin Lab was also accused of receiving a 20% cut from the venture. As per our previous coverage of the case, Darwin Lab offered technical support to the GainBitcoin website. Jain and Baghla had allegedly helped develop the coin bank, wallet, the GainBitcoin website and the MCAP cryptocurrency which were used for running the GainBitcoin operations that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.
The GainBitcoin Ponzi scheme
The case centres around an alleged GainBitcoin Ponzi scheme, launched in 2015 by late Amit Bhardwaj and Ajay Bhardwaj via their Singapore-incorporated company Variabletech Pte. Ltd..
Under the scheme, investors were promised returns of 10% per month in Bitcoin for 18 months through “cloud mining” contracts.
The scheme followed a multi-level marketing (MLM) structure, where people who invested were encouraged to bring in more investors, and the money from these new investors was used to pay returns to earlier investors.
While investors initially received payouts in Bitcoin, the scheme began to collapse around 2017 as the inflow of fresh investments slowed. The operators later allegedly shifted payouts from Bitcoin to their in-house cryptocurrency, MCAP, which was worth significantly less.
As the scheme unravelled, investors across the country began filing complaints, leading to multiple FIRs alleging large scale fraud and money laundering.
Given the scale and complexity of the alleged fraud, cases registered in several states including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra were transferred to the CBI following a December 13, 2023 directive by the Supreme Court.
Last month, as part of the investigation, the agency conducted search operations at over 60 sites across cities including Delhi NCR, Pune, Chandigarh, Nanded, Kolhapur and Bengaluru. The searches targeted premises linked to key accused persons, their associates and entities suspected of laundering the proceeds of crime.
The case is being investigated under Sections 120B, 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The CBI said the investigation remains ongoing.
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