Darwin Labs cofounder arrested in GainBitcoin fraud case

The details

• The CBI arrested Darwin Labs cofounder and CTO Ayush Varshney in the GainBitcoin fraud case.
• Varshney was intercepted by immigration at Mumbai airport on March 9, 2026, and formally arrested the next day.
• A Look Out Circular had been issued against him, and he was absconding.
• Darwin Labs cofounders Sahil Baghla and Nikunj Jain were previously arrested in the same case.
• The GainBitcoin Ponzi scheme was launched in 2015 by late Amit Bhardwaj and Ajay Bhardwaj via Singapore-incorporated Variabletech Pte Ltd.
• The scheme promised investors 10% per month returns in Bitcoin for 18 months through cloud mining contracts.
• It used a multi-level marketing structure, paying earlier investors with new investor money.
• The scheme began collapsing around 2017 as fresh investments slowed, and operators shifted payouts to an in-house cryptocurrency MCAP worth significantly less.

The bigger picture

• Darwin Labs is accused of designing, developing and deploying the MCAP token and its ERC-20 smart contract.
• It also helped develop the GBMiners.com Bitcoin mining pool, a Bitcoin payment gateway, the Coin Bank Bitcoin wallet, and the GainBitcoin website.
• Darwin Labs allegedly received a 20% cut from the venture.
• Jain and Baghla were partners of Amit Bhardwaj in the CoinBank venture.
• The Supreme Court directed transfer of all related cases to the CBI on December 13, 2023.

About the business

• Darwin Labs is a blockchain development studio that builds crypto products for clients.
• It developed the MCAP token and its smart contract for the GainBitcoin scheme.
• It also built the GBMiners.com Bitcoin mining pool platform.
• It created a Bitcoin payment gateway and the Coin Bank Bitcoin wallet.
• It developed the GainBitcoin website for the Ponzi scheme.
• The company allegedly received a 20% cut from the venture's proceeds.

What happens next

• The investigation remains ongoing.
• 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.

Founders

• Ayush Varshney, cofounder and CTO
• Sahil Baghla, cofounder
• Nikunj Jain, cofounder

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