Victor EzejaLike the Mavrodial Mondial Movement (MMM) Ponzi scheme, which ripped off many Nigerians when it crashed in 2018, many have again fallen victim, losing over N1.3 trillion in CBEX, a digital asset trading platform.
Between Monday and Tuesday, many have taken to the social media to lament their losses in digital platform. Several videos showed people sobbing uncontrollably over their losses.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelOperators of the CBEX platform were said to have carted away over N1.3 trillion from investors’ wallets, crashing it on Monday.
CBEX launched in Nigeria in July 2024, promising investors a 100 per cent return in 30 days. Users were encouraged to refer others, with bonuses and tiered rewards based on the size of their referral network.
While many cashed out in the last eight months after the launch in Nigeria, a significant number of people are however, lamenting their losses.
Concerns about the credibility of the platform started rising on Wednesday 9 April 2025 when some X users described it as Ponzi scheme.
A prominent X user, Man of Letters, @Letter_to_Jack, wrote about an individual who reportedly invested $1,000 and withdrew $5,000.
“Having done all my checks, the platform flies all the flags of a Ponzi scheme,” he wrote on X.
One of the investors on the platform, Valentine Onu, said they were first thrown into panic on Friday when the withdrawal button was disabled, making them unable to withdraw their funds.
“First, I called a friend Marcus who also has an account on the platform to confirm if I was the only one having the experience, and he said it is the same thing from his end but there is an information that the developers are doing update on the system and it will be resolved by Monday,” Onu told Prime Business Africa in a chat.
However, he said they received the greatest shock when on Monday many users of the platform realised that their wallets were displaying zero.
“I checked on Monday and it was no longer just being unable to withdraw but that my money in the digital wallet is no longer there, it is now showing zero zero,” he added.
This is a similar experience that many others had.
Another investor who didn’t want to mention his name said they were also asked to fund their accounts with at least $100 to be able to have their funds back.
“I have already funded my account with $150 to see if that would work, but I am yet to see the result. I hoping that it’s just system error as they said, and we await the resolution to be able to withdraw,” he stated.
In a video shared online, a woman who identified herself as Bolarinwa said she invested her savings in Libya into the scheme and also money she collected from friends with everything totaling $1,000.
“Me 200 dollars, but I collected all my friends money, all the money 1,000 dollars,” she stated, crying profusely at one of the offices of CBEX in the Oke-Ado area of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
“I lost over N3 million,” Femi Azeez, an investor, said.
CBEX has locked its Telegram channels and restricted WhatsApp groups, further fueling the suspicion of fraud in the scheme.
It has also introduced a verification fee where users are asked to pay $100 or $200 to purportedly to unlock $1,000 or $2,000, respectively.
“In order to ensure the authenticity of platform accounts and protect the fair rights of members, we are conducting an authenticity verification of all accounts and arranging for fund compensation,” a post on the CBEX Official X handle @cbex_official read.
It gave a deadline of 17 April for account and deposit verification “Accounts that fail to complete deposit verification by 23:59 on April 17 (UK time) will be regarded as fraudulent accounts and will be permanently banned.”
Despite the growing suspicion of fraud and tension, a member of a group CBEX_ST, wrote on Monday: “The ST team has always been committed to doing what we say we will do, and we have always promised to compensate anyone who loses money as a result of trading errors on our signals.”
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Some cryptocurrency experts have stated that given its features and mode of operations, CBEX is clearly a ponzi scheme that many Nigerians fell for due to lack of awareness and harsh economic realities in the country.
A crypto analyst, with X user name Spectre, said his investigation into the activities of CBEX shows that it is a Ponzi investment platform that has defrauded people of more than $12 million through their website.
He said CBEX’s claims to have been in existence since 2017 under a company named ST Technologies International Limited is a lie.
“According to WHOIS data, none of the websites were registered before January 2024, meaning the CBEX Ponzi scheme only went live last year,” he stated.
During an X space organised by Trending X, Taiwo Owolabi, a cryptocurrency expert and security analyst, revealed that stolen funds had been traced to a TRX address (yourself:TDqSquXBgUCLYvYC4XZgrprLK589dkhSCf). He noted that the total amount lost in USDT stood at $847 million and could rise further.
Owolabi stated that the invested funds are gone as CBEX is not licensed. He highlighted that the creators designed a weak website to look like ByBit, a legitimate trading platform.
In tears and anger over the development, an angry mob besieged the Ibadan office of CBEX on Tuesday and looted it.
A video that has gone viral showed people carting away furniture and other items from the office after CBEX officials failed to speak and clarify what is going on.
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recently warned Nigerians against depositing funds with fraudulent and unauthorized digital platforms for unrealistic returns.
Director General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, said the warning was to protect Nigerians from falling prey to fraudulent schemes.
“We welcome innovation, but it must occur within a regulated environment that protects investors and maintains the integrity of our market,” Agama said.
Speaking at a virtual engagement with fintech stakeholders on the Investment and Securities Act (ISA 2025) on Monday, the SEC director general said CBEX was unregistered and operated illegally.
Commenting on it, a former lawmaker and human rights activist, Senator Shehu Sani, wrote: “CBEX: Many people have not learned their lessons from this kind of online money doubling outfits despite years of warnings against ponzi businesses.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
