Indian authorities have launched a massive crackdown on one of the country’s biggest cryptocurrency scams, conducting nationwide raids in connection with the GainBitcoin Ponzi scheme. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out searches across 60 locations on Feb. 25, targeting key suspects involved in the eight-year-old fraud, which scammed investors out of 6,606 crores Indian rupees ($75.8 million).

The GainBitcoin scam was orchestrated by the notorious Bhardwaj brothers—Amit and Vivek—who promised investors lucrative returns through a cloud-based Bitcoin trading and mining platform. Their scheme lured over 8,000 victims with promises of 10% monthly returns in Bitcoin for 18 months, requiring participants to purchase Bitcoin and invest in so-called "cloud mining" contracts.

Authorities arrested the brothers in 2017 after multiple police reports were filed. Amit, the mastermind behind the operation, ran the scam while Vivek aggressively marketed it at crypto events. However, instead of buying Bitcoin as promised, the duo allegedly converted investors' funds into Ether and MCAP tokens, profiting from the price differences.

Despite Amit Bhardwaj’s death in 2022 due to cardiac arrest while on bail, investigations into the scam remain active. So far, eight individuals have been arrested, with authorities pledging to continue their crackdown on the remaining perpetrators.

Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla highlighted that the brothers exploited the lack of crypto knowledge among investors. The CBI reaffirmed its commitment to bringing all involved in the massive fraud to justice, marking one of India’s most aggressive crackdowns on crypto-related crimes to date.