In what could become one of the most devastating financial scams in Nigeria’s recent history, the collapse of CBEX has left thousands of Nigerians reeling from financial loss, heartbreak, and betrayal.
At the heart of it all was a simple but powerful promise: double your money in just 30 days, Tech Cabal reports. That promise lured many into what now appears to be a carefully orchestrated Ponzi scheme dressed up as a legitimate crypto trading platform.
CBEX—short for China Beijing Equity Exchange—entered Nigeria in mid-2024. From the get-go, it carried a deceptive name, meant to evoke credibility and international clout. But the platform had no affiliation whatsoever with the real China Beijing Equity Exchange. Instead, it was a phantom operation that exploited the growing interest in cryptocurrencies and the desperation of an economically strained population.
The core of CBEX’s strategy was classic Ponzi mechanics. Early users received mouth-watering profits—returns funded not by actual crypto trading, but by money from newer users. This created the illusion of success and attracted a wave of fresh victims. Testimonials poured in, mostly on social media, showing account balances, alleged withdrawals, and flashy rewards.
But behind the scenes, CBEX was simply recycling money. Nothing was being invested, and no AI-powered crypto trades were happening, despite bold claims on their website and promotional materials.
One of the ways CBEX scaled so rapidly was through aggressive referral schemes. Users were incentivized to bring in others, with higher rewards promised to those who built bigger networks. This created a pyramid structure that fed off greed and desperation.
What made CBEX particularly convincing was its attention to detail. They established “physical offices” in major Nigerian cities like Ibadan and Lagos. These offices were likely set up to serve as props—physical symbols that would calm doubts and give legitimacy to their operations.
Staff posing as company representatives claimed they worked closely with a head office in China, weaving a story that sounded plausible to the average investor.
CBEX also exploited technology buzzwords to mask their scam. The platform claimed it was using artificial intelligence to conduct high-frequency trading of digital assets like Bitcoin and USDT.
For beginners who didn’t fully understand crypto or trading, this sounded futuristic and trustworthy. But the trading dashboard users interacted with was fake—generated figures, fake graphs, and non-existent markets.
Things began to unravel in early April 2025. Users started reporting withdrawal issues. By April 10, complaints had surged. By April 15, CBEX was essentially dead in the water—withdrawals were blocked, and most user accounts reflected a zero balance.
The fallout was swift and emotional. Videos circulated online showing investors looting CBEX offices and confronting staff. Social media lit up with debates. Some users ridiculed victims for falling for a “too-good-to-be-true” scheme, while others empathized, pointing to the high unemployment rate and harsh economic realities that push ordinary Nigerians toward risky ventures.
CBEX is not the first Ponzi scheme in Nigeria, and sadly, it may not be the last. From the early “wonder banks” like Umana-Umana to the infamous MMM crash in 2016, these scams have consistently taken advantage of weak regulation, poor financial literacy, and economic hardship. The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) estimates that over ₦1 trillion may have been lost in these schemes just in the last two decades. CBEX now joins a shameful list alongside Get Help Worldwide, Racksterli, Loom, and MBA Forex, among others.
The CBEX story offers several painful but important lessons. First, any investment promising unusually high returns in a short time is almost certainly a scam. Legitimate investments carry risk and grow steadily, not explosively. Second, investors must verify that platforms are registered and regulated by appropriate authorities. Lastly, social media popularity is not proof of legitimacy.
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CBEX pulled off its scam by pretending to be what it was not—technologically advanced, internationally connected, and legally sound. But in reality, it was built on lies, greed, and exploitation. As the dust settles, the hope is that this latest disaster will push more Nigerians to ask harder questions before trusting anyone with their hard-earned money.
Because when it comes to your finances, believing blindly can be far more expensive than missing out on quick riches.
