← Darwin Labs Private Limitedreviewed 2026-10-16 · 23 claims checked
Fact-check findings
What an automated fact-checker found when it re-read Darwin Labs Private Limited against the sources the page cites. Only the most recent review is shown.
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These findings are produced by an automated reviewer, and its results vary between runs: the same page, checked three times on the same day, came back with 15%, 20% and 34% of its claims disputed, mostly because each run extracted a different number of claims. Treat what follows as leads, not rulings.
“Disputed” means the reviewer could not reconcile the claim with the evidence it cited. It does not mean the claim is false. “Unverifiable” means no reachable source settled it either way.
Nothing here changes the page on its own. A proposed correction is applied only after a human moderator approves it; until then the page reads as it did when reviewed.
disputed
1 claimThe reviewer could not reconcile the claim with the evidence it cited. This is a lead, not a ruling that the claim is false.
- #18[disputed][awaiting moderator]in the timeline
“2026-03-11”
reviewerDelhi court remanded Ayush Varshney to judicial custody until March 30, 2026 — dated 2026-03-11 in the timeline.The timeline entry's date field (2026-03-11) does not match the date given in its own cited source (ProKerala), which states the judicial-custody remand till March 30 occurred on March 17, 2026. This is likely conflated with the March 10 arrest/initial remand date. The event text and end-date (March 30) are correct; only the date field is wrong.Proposed correction (not yet applied)2026-03-17
unverifiable
1 claimNo source the reviewer could reach confirms or contradicts the claim.
- #23[unverifiable][awaiting moderator]in section: Alleged Role in the GainBitcoin Ponzi Scheme
“https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2238127®=3&lang=2”
reviewerPIB press releases (PRID 2238127 and PRID 2238160) are accessible, functioning citations for the CBI's allegations.Could not be independently verified by the reviewer or by AVOID.NET's own archiving pipeline; this is a genuine access limitation rather than confirmed link rot, since PIB commonly blocks automated fetches while remaining live for human browsers. Flagged for visibility rather than disputed.
stale
1 claimThe claim was accurate when written but events since have overtaken it.
- #17[stale][awaiting moderator]in section: Ayush Varshney Arrest: 2026
“A Delhi court subsequently remanded him to judicial custody until March 30, 2026.”
reviewerOn March 9, 2026, Varshney was intercepted at Mumbai airport attempting to board a flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka, handed to the CBI, and formally arrested on March 10, 2026; a Delhi court subsequently remanded him to judicial custody until March 30, 2026.The custody detail was accurate as of March 2026 but is now superseded: Varshney was granted bail in early April 2026, a fact the page (reviewed October 2026) omits entirely, leaving readers with an outdated impression of his custody status.Proposed correction (not yet applied)A Delhi court subsequently remanded him to judicial custody until March 30, 2026; he was granted bail by the Rouse Avenue Court in early April 2026, with the CBI's investigation into the case continuing.
partially supported
3 claimsThe cited evidence supports part of the claim but not all of it.
- #4[partially supported][awaiting moderator]in section: Alleged Role in the GainBitcoin Ponzi Scheme
“the infrastructure allegedly developed by Darwin Labs and its co-founders included: the Bitcoin mining pool platform GBMiners.com; a Bitcoin payment gateway; the Coin Bank Bitcoin wallet; and the GainBitcoin investor-facing website.”
reviewerDarwin Labs allegedly developed GBMiners.com, a Bitcoin payment gateway, the Coin Bank Bitcoin wallet, the GainBitcoin investor website, and the MCAP token/ERC-20 smart contract, per the CBI/PIB.The underlying allegation is corroborated by secondary reporting (Inc42, search-engine summaries of coverage citing the PIB release), but the specific PIB press release the page cites as its primary source cannot itself be fetched or verified; the claim rests on secondhand attribution to a document the reviewer could not access. - #15[partially supported][awaiting moderator]in section: Co-Founder Arrests: 2018
“Sahil Baghla had previously founded Bluegape; Nikunj Jain had founded Frankly.me and later became identified as the founder of Vaomi AI.”
reviewerSahil Baghla had previously founded Bluegape.The page attributes Bluegape solely to Baghla, omitting that Ayush Varshney also co-founded it — a materially relevant fact since it shows a pre-existing business partnership between two Darwin Labs co-founders. The Vaomi AI attribution for Nikunj Jain rests on a single weak directory source and could not be independently corroborated by a tier-1/2 outlet. - #20[partially supported][awaiting moderator]in section: CBI Investigation: Scope and Evidence
“During these raids, authorities seized cryptocurrencies valued at approximately Rs 23.94 crore, multiple hardware crypto wallets, 121 documents, 34 laptops or hard disks, 12 mobile phones, and email and cloud-based evidence.”
reviewerOn February 25-26, 2025, the CBI conducted coordinated searches at over 60 locations, seizing crypto worth ~Rs 23.94 crore, hardware wallets, 121 documents, 34 laptops/hard disks, and 12 mobile phones.All figures confirmed except the '121 documents' count, which neither cited Newsonair release states explicitly in the text the reviewer could extract; this specific figure could not be independently corroborated, though it is not contradicted either.
confirmed
17 claimsThe cited evidence supports the claim as written.
- #1[confirmed][no action needed]in the summary
“a third — Ayush Varshney — was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in March 2026 after being intercepted at Mumbai airport while allegedly attempting to flee to Sri Lanka.”
reviewerDarwin Labs was co-founded by Sahil Baghla, Ayush Varshney, and Nikunj Jain, and a third co-founder (Varshney) was arrested by the CBI in March 2026 after being intercepted at Mumbai airport allegedly attempting to flee to Sri Lanka.Multiple independent outlets corroborate the arrest, interception location, and destination. - #2[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Company Overview
“Darwin Labs Private Limited is a private limited company incorporated on May 27, 2016, registered with the Registrar of Companies in Delhi (CIN: U74999DL2016PTC300577).”
reviewerDarwin Labs Private Limited was incorporated on May 27, 2016, registered in Delhi, CIN U74999DL2016PTC300577, with eFiling/company status Active.Directly confirmed by the cited registry-data source. - #3[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Company Overview
“Ayush Varshney was recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2018 for work at NashVentures, which he co-ran alongside Darwin Labs.”
reviewerAyush Varshney was recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2018 for his work at NashVentures, which he co-ran alongside Darwin Labs.Supported as stated. - #5[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Alleged Role in the GainBitcoin Ponzi Scheme
“Darwin Labs reportedly received a 20 percent cut from the GBMiners venture for its technical services.”
reviewerDarwin Labs reportedly received a 20 percent cut from the GBMiners venture for its technical services.Directly confirmed. - #6[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Alleged Role in the GainBitcoin Ponzi Scheme
“In April 2017, Darwin Labs issued a public press release via PR Newswire stating it had officially ended its vendor relationship with GBMiners, with CEO Sahil Baghla stating the company did not want to be 'associated with something which has the slightest probability of suspicion.'”
reviewerIn April 2017, Darwin Labs issued a press release via PR Newswire ending its vendor relationship with GBMiners, with CEO Sahil Baghla stating the company did not want to be associated with something with the slightest probability of suspicion.Confirmed; quote and date (April 5, 2017) match the source and the separate timeline entry. - #7[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Alleged Role in the GainBitcoin Ponzi Scheme
“CBI charges against the co-founders include Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.”
reviewerCBI charges against the co-founders include IPC Sections 120B, 406, 420 and IT Act Section 66.Corroborated by multiple secondary accounts of the PIB release, though the primary PIB page itself was inaccessible to the reviewer. - #8[confirmed][no action needed]in section: GainBitcoin Scheme: Background and Scale
“GainBitcoin was launched in 2015 by Amit Bhardwaj and his brother Ajay Bhardwaj via Variabletech Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-registered entity.”
reviewerGainBitcoin launched in 2015 by Amit and Ajay Bhardwaj via Variabletech Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), promising 10% monthly Bitcoin returns for 18 months via cloud-mining.Consistent across multiple independent reports. - #9[confirmed][no action needed]in section: GainBitcoin Scheme: Background and Scale
“Industry observers and Indian exchange Zebpay publicly flagged the scheme as unsustainable as early as January 2017, noting that the promised returns were approximately 2.5 times what the stated mining capacity could generate.”
reviewerIndustry observers and Zebpay publicly flagged GainBitcoin as unsustainable as early as January 2017, with promised returns about 2.5x what the stated mining capacity could generate.The 2.5x figure checks out arithmetically against the article's own numbers. - #10[confirmed][no action needed]in section: CBI Investigation: Scope and Evidence
“Indian cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay publicly warned users, stating: 'We are absolutely sure that this is not possible in mining...these are scams.'”
reviewerZebpay quote: 'We are absolutely sure that this is not possible in mining...these are scams.'Both quoted fragments are verbatim from the source, joined by an ellipsis to indicate omitted text; not fabricated, though attributing it to 'Zebpay' rather than naming the COO is a minor simplification. - #11[confirmed][no action needed]in section: GainBitcoin Scheme: Background and Scale
“The CBI estimates approximately 8,000 investors were affected with losses of roughly Rs 6,606 crore (approximately $790 million)”
reviewerThe CBI estimates approximately 8,000 investors affected with losses of roughly Rs 6,606 crore (~$790 million).Core figures (8,000 investors, $790M) are directly confirmed; the precise Rs 6,606 crore figure is consistent with, though more granular than, the rounded figures in secondary sources. - #12[confirmed][no action needed]in section: GainBitcoin Scheme: Background and Scale
“some reports cite a broader pool of 80,000 to 100,000 victims and potential losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore (approximately $2.1 billion at current Bitcoin prices) when the full value of approximately 29,000 to 80,000 Bitcoin collected is taken into account”
reviewerBroader reports cite 80,000-100,000 victims and losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore (~$2.1 billion) given ~29,000-80,000 BTC collected.Matches the broader/higher estimate range described on the page. - #13[confirmed][no action needed]in section: GainBitcoin Scheme: Background and Scale
“Amit Bhardwaj was arrested at Bangkok airport in March 2018 and died of cardiac arrest in January 2022 before trial concluded.”
reviewerAmit Bhardwaj was arrested at Bangkok airport in March 2018 and died of cardiac arrest in January 2022 before trial concluded.Widely corroborated fact. - #14[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Co-Founder Arrests: 2018
“At the time of Baghla and Jain's arrests, authorities seized approximately 43 Bitcoin, 80 Ethereum, and cash worth roughly $49,800.”
reviewerIn April 2018, Pune Police arrested Sahil Baghla and Nikunj Jain; seized ~43 Bitcoin, ~80 Ethereum, cash worth ~$49,800; scheme then estimated at ~$300 million; Varshney evaded arrest.All figures round correctly from the source's more precise numbers. - #16[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Ayush Varshney Arrest: 2026
“Ayush Varshney, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Darwin Labs Private Limited, remained a fugitive for approximately eight years following his co-founders' arrests in 2018. A Look Out Circular was issued against him as he was classified as absconding.”
reviewerA Look Out Circular was issued against Ayush Varshney, and he remained a fugitive for approximately eight years following the 2018 arrests.Consistent across multiple sources. - #19[confirmed][no action needed]in section: CBI Investigation: Scope and Evidence
“India's Supreme Court directed the CBI on December 13, 2023, to consolidate and investigate all related GainBitcoin FIRs (First Information Reports) filed across multiple states — including Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Delhi, and West Bengal — as a single common investigating agency”
reviewerIndia's Supreme Court directed the CBI on December 13, 2023, to consolidate and investigate all related GainBitcoin FIRs across multiple states as a single investigating agency.Date and substance are consistently corroborated across sources, though specific named states (J&K, West Bengal) were not independently verified by the reviewer. - #21[confirmed][no action needed]in the timeline
“2016-05-27”
reviewerDarwin Labs was incorporated and formally founded by Sahil Baghla, Ayush Varshney, and Nikunj Jain on May 27, 2016.Confirmed, matches section 0 claim and registry source. - #22[confirmed][no action needed]in the timeline
“2017-04-05”
reviewerPress release ending GBMiners vendor relationship was issued 2017-04-05.Exact date match.
How this fits together. The reviewer reads the published page and its cited sources and records one finding per claim. A human moderator decides whether each proposed correction is applied; those decisions, and the score changes they cause, appear in the audit log. Earlier review runs are not shown here; only the latest reflects the page as it stands.