By Abiola Olawale
Nigerians across the country are reeling from shock and anger following the sudden crash of CBEX, a digital asset trading platform that allegedly swindled investors out of over N1.3 trillion.
The platform, which promised a 100% return on investment within 30 days, collapsed on Monday, leaving thousands unable to access their funds and igniting a firestorm of reactions on social media.
The CBEX saga began gaining traction in mid-2024, marketed as a revolutionary trading platform offering staggering returns and referral bonuses.
On Monday, panic erupted as CBEX locked its Telegram channels, suspended withdrawals, and reportedly wiped investors’ account balances to zero.
This development made several individuals to take to their social media platforms to lament the fraud.
Social media platforms, particularly X, became a battleground of grief, blame, and frustration.
“How do we keep falling for this?” wrote one user, @shegzedon.
The collapse of the platform also triggered physical outbursts as well. In Ibadan, Oyo State, some angry youths looted a CBEX office in Oke Ado, carting away air conditioners, fans, and even windows, as seen in viral videos.
Analysing the crash on X space organised by Trending X, a cryptocurrency expert and security analyst, Taiwo Owolabi said data has shown that the money was moved to a TRX address (yourself:TDqSquXBgUCLYvYC4XZgrprLK589dkhSCf) and a total volume stolen so far in USDT is $847 million and likely to increase.
Owolabi stressed that the invested funds are gone because CBEX is not a licensed platform, and the creators designed a weak website to look like ByBit, which is a legitimate trading platform.
He stated: “They designed the weak website to convince people in the future that it was a security breach that affected them. Apparently, when you make payments, you pay them into a TRX account, and then, immediately, they move it from that TRX wallet, gather it, convert it to USDT, and then to ETH. So, when you are logging into your account, there is no money on your profile.
“What you see are just numbers. All the daily activities you do to ‘trade’ increase your money. All the AI trading is fake. When it’s time for withdrawal, they will send you another person’s money.
“Since you won’t be leaving them because of greed. You will most likely put the money back and even more. So, they will use that same money to pay another person. As you spread the word for them, more people will join and do the same.”
It would be recalled that before the collapse of the platform, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had warned Nigerians, reiterating that CBEX was unregistered and illegal under the newly enacted Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025.
SEC Director General Emomotimi Agama, speaking at a fintech stakeholders’ meeting warned against unregistered platforms, stating: “If it’s not registered, it’s illegal.”
The New Diplomat reports that the CBEX scandal joins a long list of Ponzi schemes that have plagued Nigeria, from MMM’s 2016 collapse, which affected over three million people, to MBA Forex, which defrauded investors of N213 billion between 2018 and 2021.
