Indian authorities have arrested entrepreneur Ayush Varshney in connection with the alleged $800 million GainBitcoin Bitcoin Ponzi scheme, nearly a decade after the fraud first emerged during the early cryptocurrency boom.
Investigators from India’s Central Bureau of Investigation detained Varshney at Mumbai airport while he was reportedly attempting to leave the country for Sri Lanka after a lookout notice had been issued against him.
Officials believe the arrest could help uncover key technical details behind the GainBitcoin platform, which allegedly lured thousands of investors with promises of 10% monthly returns paid in Bitcoin.
The GainBitcoin scheme began around 2015 when alleged mastermind Amit Bhardwaj promoted cloud mining contracts that claimed to generate high and consistent Bitcoin profits for investors.
Authorities later determined the business relied heavily on a multi-level referral network and new investor deposits to fund earlier payouts, a structure typical of Ponzi-style operations.
By 2017 the platform began replacing promised Bitcoin rewards with a proprietary cryptocurrency called MCAP, a move investigators say helped delay the collapse despite the token’s limited liquidity.
The case grew more complicated after Bhardwaj, who had been arrested in 2018 and later released on bail, died from cardiac arrest in 2022 while authorities continued tracing funds across crypto wallets, foreign exchanges and international networks.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $70,619.23.