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The story of CBEX is the latest chapter in Nigeria’s long and painful history with Ponzi schemes, as furious investors allege the digital platform made off with more than N1.3 trillion following its collapse on Monday.
What started in July 2024 as a promising new opportunity quickly spiraled into chaos, echoing infamous scams like MMM, Ultimate Cycler, and Givers Forum. CBEX lured investors in with a tantalizing promise: 100% returns in 30 days. Users were incentivized to recruit others, building a referral pyramid with bonuses and layered rewards based on network size.
Early Warning Signs Ignored
The first major red flag came on Wednesday, April 9, when X user Man of Letters (@Letter_to_Jack) posted a cautionary tweet about the platform. He cited a case where someone allegedly invested $1,000 and withdrew $5,000 — an unsustainable payout ratio.
“Having done all my checks, the platform flies all the flags of a Ponzi scheme,” he tweeted.
By Friday, April 11, alarm bells were ringing louder. Investors began reporting issues with withdrawals. Still, CBEX’s inner circles dismissed it as “rumours.”
“They told us it was just a rumour,” one investor shared with BusinessDay. “They assured us withdrawals would resume by Tuesday (April 15).”
Messages reviewed by BusinessDay from a CBEX WhatsApp group named CBEX_ST revealed continued attempts to downplay the situation.
“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,” a message read.
The Crash and Aftermath
By Monday, April 15, the worst fears were confirmed — the platform crashed entirely.
“I lost over N3 million,” investor Femi Azeez revealed.
CBEX reacted by locking down its Telegram channels and restricting access to WhatsApp groups. Even more troubling, the platform introduced a “verification fee,” asking users to pay $100 or $200 to unlock supposedly frozen $1,000 or $2,000 balances — a classic exit scam tactic.
Social media erupted with outrage. Videos surfaced of investors storming CBEX offices in Ibadan and Lagos, demanding answers and refunds.
Funds Traced, But Gone
In an X Space hosted by Trending X, crypto security analyst Taiwo Owolabi provided a breakdown of CBEX’s financial trail. He traced the stolen funds to a TRX address and revealed a staggering total loss of $847 million in USDT — a number he warned may continue to rise.
“They designed the weak website to convince people in the future that it was a security breach that affected them,” he explained. “Apparently, when you make payments, you pay them into a TRX account, and then, immediately, they move it… convert it to USDT, and then to ETH. So, when you are logging into your account, there is literally no money on your profile.”
SEC: CBEX Was Operating Illegally
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed that CBEX was never licensed.
Speaking at a virtual fintech stakeholder meeting on the newly updated Investment and Securities Act (ISA 2025), SEC Director-General Emomotimi Agama issued a stark warning:
“Very recently, there has been a post that has gone viral around a particular platform and the activities of such platforms. And of course, the aftermath of it is further news of their closure and all of that. In fact, I was tagged in one of those messages. I want to state it very clearly, if it is not registered, it is illegal.”
Under the revised ISA 2025, operators of Ponzi schemes now face up to 10 years in prison and a N40 million fine if convicted.
A Recurring Nightmare
CBEX now takes its place among Nigeria’s most damaging financial scams. The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) reported in 2022 that Nigerians lost N911.45 billion to Ponzi schemes over the previous 23 years. MMM alone accounted for N18 billion of that total.
CBEX has far surpassed that — a sobering reminder that despite numerous warnings and high-profile failures, Ponzi schemes remain a persistent and devastating threat to Nigerian investors.
