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The CBI has conducted extensive searches in more than 60 cities across the country in connection with its probe into the GainBitcoin cryptocurrency central agency conducted coordinated search operations in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Chandigarh, Nanded, Kolhapur, Bengaluru, and others at the residences of the key accused people, and the companies suspected of conducting money laundering of ill-gotten agency conducted search operations and seized a few crypto wallets, incriminating digital evidence and digital devices. The evidence presented in emailsclouds was was an alleged Ponzi scheme launched in 2015 by Amit Bhardwaj, along with Ajay Bhardwaj and their network of agents. The scheme operated through multiple websites under the facade of a company named Variabletech Private ponzi scheme lured investors with monthly returns of 10 per cent in Bitcoin for 18 months. Scammers asked investors to purchase Bitcoin from exchanges and forward them to the GainBitcoin website through "cloud mining" scheme possessed a multi-level marketing arrangement common in pyramid-based Ponzi schemes where rewards were dependent on the recruitment of new alleged scammers initially paid investors in Bitcoin. However, when the supply of investments in the company decreased in 2017, the Ponzi scheme began to an attempt to cover the losses, GainBitcoin arbitrarily converted the payments to their alleged in-house currency MCAP, which had less value, further misleading CBI registered multiple FIRs across India, alleging large-scale fraud and money laundering. Given the vast scale and complexity of the scam, cases registered in various states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, were transferred to the CBI by the Supreme Court's By: Akshat TrivediPublished On: Feb 25, 2025ALSO READ | CBI case against ex-Coast Guard chief for 'forging' senior officers' dossiersMust Watch
