CBEX Collapse: The $800 Million Crypto Scam That Shook Nigeria and Kenya

CBEX, a self-proclaimed digital asset trading platform, is now at the center of one of the largest financial scams in Nigeria’s history. Thousands of investors have been left penniless.

Promising sky-high returns — 100% in just 30 days — CBEX quickly attracted users across Nigeria and Kenya. It exploited the region’s economic hardship to lure victims. Behind the flashy front, however, was a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.

CBEX Collapses: A Foreseeable End

The platform collapsed suddenly in early April 2025. CBEX disabled withdrawals, shut down its official Telegram channel, and demanded users pay a $100–$200 “verification” fee for a chance to recover their funds — widely seen as a last-ditch attempt to extract more money from victims.

Previously, CBEX had promised users a 30% return on investment within just one month. But now, many investors can’t withdraw their funds and fear their money is gone for good.

According to the BBC, angry customers stormed a CBEX office in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. Others turned to social media, sharing how their accounts had been locked. Many posted tearful videos.

“I was ready to withdraw all my investment just last week but my friend told me to be patient and wait — and now it has crashed,” investor Ola told the BBC.

The Nation Online reported that users’ funds vanished almost instantly after the deposit. This suggests investors never truly owned or accessed the digital assets they believed they were trading. The Nation Online estimates the damage at over 1.3 trillion Naira (about 800 million USD).

The CBEX crash has drawn comparisons to MMM — a notorious Ponzi scheme that hit Nigeria in 2016, wiping out millions of dollars of savings. While many suspected CBEX was a scam, they still joined, hoping to cash out early. Most were left with nothing but regret.

How Did CBEX Operate?

Independent investigator Specter published a detailed report on X, exposing CBEX’s operations.

According to Specter, CBEX used the TRON blockchain to route victims’ funds through a network of wallets. It then converted the money into USDT or USDD before moving it to major exchanges such as OKX, Bitget, and HTX.

“CBEX generates a new wallet address for every new user. When victims deposit, their funds are moved to another wallet. TRON is the primary chain used. Since TRON requires ‘Energy’ to reduce transaction fees, CBEX uses some wallets to delegate energy to new wallets before moving the funds out,” Specter explained.

Specter tracked one wallet that received $3.2 million (now down to $353,000). Another held $1.9 million. About $5.7 million has been traced through various exchanges.

CBEX also appears linked to Huione Pay, a money laundering network operating in Southeast Asia. The platform used scam website templates developed by Kehon8, a Telegram coder with 145,000 followers.

Specter’s report implicated several Nigerian Telegram admins, including Victor Aiguosatile Osamwende, who promoted CBEX and allegedly threatened victims after the collapse. It also revealed CBEX’s connection to LWEX — another Ponzi scheme targeting Slovakia and Hungary using a nearly identical interface.

Adding to the fallout, user KYC data from CBEX may have leaked to the darknet, raising serious concerns about information security.