Amit Bhardwaj
Indian entrepreneur who founded GainBitcoin / GB Miners, described by police as one of India's largest crypto Ponzi schemes (~$300M+, collecting an estimated 80,000+ BTC). Arrested in 2018; he died in January 2022 before the cases concluded.
Also known as: Amit K. Bhardwaj
Note: Amit Bhardwaj was arrested and accused in India but died before the cases against him were resolved; the allegations were not adjudicated against him.
Bio
Amit Bhardwaj founded Amaze Mining & Blockchain Research and the GB Miners pool, and was identified by Indian authorities as the mastermind of GainBitcoin — a cloud-mining "investment" program (often paying returns in the MCAP token) that police describe as a multi-level-marketing Ponzi scheme. Estimates of funds collected range widely, commonly cited around $300 million (tens of thousands of bitcoin; some agency estimates run far higher). [1][2]
Status
Pune Police arrested Bhardwaj and associates in 2018, and India's Enforcement Directorate and later the CBI pursued money-laundering investigations. Bhardwaj died of cardiac arrest on January 15, 2022, at age 38; proceedings continued against his brothers and associates. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (2)
- Amit Bhardwaj (overview) — Wikipedia
- GainBitcoin scam: CBI conducts searches at 60 locations across India — The Hindu
See also
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
- Profit ConnectProjectsA Las Vegas company that the SEC said was a $12M+ Ponzi scheme: it told 277+ investors their money would be invested in securities and crypto via an 'artificial intelligence supercomputer' guaranteeing 20–30% annual returns. The SEC halted it in 2021; over 90% of funds came from investors.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.