The raids targeted the infamous GainBitcoin scam, a classic Ponzi scheme that promised the moon and delivered dirt. Launched in 2015 by Amit Bhardwaj (now deceased) and Ajay Bhardwaj, the operation lured investors with promises of 10% monthly returns on Bitcoin investments for 18 months. Spoiler alert: those returns never materialized.
CBI officers didn’t just walk away with digital currencies. They seized 121 incriminating documents, 34 laptops and hard disks, and 12 mobile phones. The hardware crypto wallets were probably the jackpot though—digital piggy banks stuffed with ill-gotten gains.
Hardware wallets—digital treasure chests crammed with the proceeds of deception and empty promises.
The GainBitcoin scam was textbook fraud. Buy Bitcoin, invest in “cloud mining” contracts, recruit others, profit! Except the only ones profiting were at the top. When new investments dried up in 2017, the scheme predictably collapsed. The operation relied heavily on a multi-level marketing structure to expand its reach across India. To add insult to injury, they switched payouts from Bitcoin to worthless MCAP tokens. Unlike legitimate passive ETFs that aim to match specific market indexes with transparent holdings, GainBitcoin offered no real investment strategy or underlying assets.
Total damage? A mind-blowing ₹6,600 crore—that’s roughly $758 million USD. The Central Bureau of Investigation conducted searches at over 60 locations across major Indian cities including Delhi, Pune, and Mumbai. The scale prompted the Supreme Court to transfer cases to the CBI from eight different states including J&K, Punjab, and Maharashtra.
Legal proceedings began in 2018, with Amit Bhardwaj and team being booked for the scam. The investigation continues as authorities trace the complex web of transactions.
This raid represents more than just recovered assets. It’s a wake-up call for India’s crypto landscape. Investor faith? Shattered. Future regulations? Inevitable. The crypto Wild West in India just got a new sheriff, and they’re not messing around.
