Recently, the digital investment platform CBEX suddenly collapsed, with reports indicating that investors incurred losses amounting to over N1.3 trillion.
Due to its crash, several Nigerians have taken to social media recounting their losses on the digital asset trading platform popularly known as CBEX.
What you need to know about CBEX?
CBEX is a digital trading asset platform that gives investors 100 percent Return On Investment in 30 days. Its purported goal was to create a secure, transparent environment for transactions. Its operations commenced in Nigeria in 2024, despite claims of existence since 2017, a timeline that contradicts its domain registration and distinguishes it from the legitimate China Beijing Equity Exchange.
How CBEX operated
According to CBEX, the AI bot traded twice a day and made about 3% daily profit, showing users fake charts and balances with no real trading behind the scenes.
Referrals earned bonuses, so people were encouraged to bring in more members to earn commissions.
To get their bonuses, users often had to wait 30–45 days before withdrawing any funds. If they tried to withdraw earlier, they would face significant penalties. This gave CBEX time to keep funds on the platform and attract more deposits.
As withdrawals slowed in early April 2025, CBEX introduced a “verification fee” of $100 or $200 to unlock user accounts.
CBEX investors will get their money back-EFCC assures
In a new development, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has assured individuals who invested in the CBEX digital trading platform that they would recover their funds.
The commission revealed that it had been monitoring the platform even before the recent wave of public complaints.
On Monday, angry investors reportedly stormed and looted the office of Smart Treasure, an affiliate of CBEX, located in the Oke Ado area of Ibadan, Oyo State.
Speaking during Channels TV’s Morning Brief on Wednesday, EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed that the anti-graft agency had been fielding numerous calls from Nigerians seeking information and solutions regarding the CBEX platform.
Oyewale stressed that the EFCC had profiled the platform long before the recent outcry and had previously warned Nigerians about potential Ponzi schemes.
“We were not waiting for Nigerians to call us before we started our work, of course, we have been working,” he said.
“We were not beaten by what actually happened. Our dragnet is wide, our intelligence is very effective, and we were tracking that digital trading platform.”
He added, “We were tracking it, and we profiled several things concerning the platform. You will recall that March 11 this year, the executive chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, had called to instruct us to alert Nigerians.”
Can Nigerians still withdraw their money?
As EFCC assured Nigerians of getting their money back from CBEX, the question is can investors stil withdraw their money?
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.
He noted 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.
“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, then to ETH. So, when you are logging into your account, there is literally 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.”
According to Owolabi, all the funds are gone. Unless people decide to pay the $100 and $200 verification fees, that way, they will settle some people and leave others to languish.
Legal and regulatory issues
CBEX was never approved by the SEC, which is against Nigerian law, as investment platforms are required to register. CBEX ignored these regulations.
CBEX touted U.S. FinCEN and Canadian registrations. However, FinCEN does not verify legitimacy; it only lists those who file. Canada also had no record of a valid CBEX firm.
Operating a Ponzi scheme in Nigeria can result in charges of fraud and unlawful fundraising. EFCC identified CBEX as one of many questionable investment platforms. After its collapse, the EFCC stated it would work with Interpol to pursue the key figures behind the scheme, including those who may have fled overseas 
