India’s Enforcement Directorate raids 21 sites in decade‑long crypto investment scam tied to 26 fake platforms
India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out coordinated raids at 21 residential and office locations across Karnataka, Maharashtra and New Delhi on 18 December 2025 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, targeting 4th Bloc Consultants and linked entities accused of running a crypto investment fraud since at least 2015. The probe identifies 26 fake trading platforms — including goldbooker.com and cryptobrite.com — that cloned legitimate exchanges and promised unusually high returns on deposits denominated in bitcoin and other digital assets. Promoters recruited victims via Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram, used unauthorised images of crypto commentators and celebrities, and offered referral bonuses and staged early payouts to build trust. Investigators seized digital devices, property records and information on bank and crypto accounts for forensic analysis. The ED says operators laundered proceeds through crypto wallets, peer‑to‑peer (P2P) transfers, shell companies, foreign bank accounts and hawala channels, and used illicit funds to buy real estate in India and abroad. The agency has not disclosed total losses, victim count or seizure values; next steps include tracing flows from the 26 platforms into identified accounts and assets and possible further enforcement. For traders: the advisory and public naming of fraudulent sites raise short‑term reputational pressure on crypto onshore channels and highlight persistent fraud vectors (fake platforms, P2P laundering, social‑media recruitment). Key keywords: Enforcement Directorate, crypto scam, fake platforms, money laundering, bitcoin, hawala, 26 websites.
Bearish
This enforcement action is likely to be bearish for bitcoin and related on‑ramp channels in the short term. Public raids, naming of fake platforms and an ED advisory increase regulatory and reputational risk perceptions, which can reduce retail inflows and prompt tighter scrutiny of P2P and off‑exchange activity. Traders may see temporary selling pressure on BTC as nervous retail and onshore intermediaries deleverage or pause deposits. In the medium to long term the impact is likely neutral to limited for bitcoin’s fundamental value: the action targets fraudulent intermediaries and laundering networks rather than the protocol or liquidity of BTC itself, and stronger enforcement can support healthier markets by deterring scams. However, persistent revelations of large‑scale fraud can sustain negative sentiment and episodic volatility until regulatory frameworks and compliance practices strengthen.