Thousands of Nigerians are reeling from the collapse of CBEX, a digital asset trading platform that reportedly vanished with over N1.3 trillion of investors’ funds.
The platform, which had promised a 100% return on investment in just 30 days, went offline on Monday after users discovered that their wallet balances had mysteriously disappeared.
The platform also locked its Telegram groups and halted all withdrawals. In a bid to keep investors engaged, CBEX offered a suspicious “verification” scheme, claiming users could retrieve $2,000 for a $200 verification fee or $1,000 for $100.
Cryptocurrency expert and security analyst Taiwo Owolabi, speaking during an X (formerly Twitter) Space hosted by Trending X, revealed that approximately $847 million worth of USDT had already been funneled to a Tron (TRX) wallet—TDqSquXBgUCLYvYC4XZgrprLK589dkhSCf—and warned the figure could climb higher.
Owolabi emphasized that CBEX was never licensed and was modeled after legitimate platforms like ByBit to appear trustworthy. “They created a flimsy website designed to mimic real platforms and deceive users into believing their investments were safe,” he said.
He explained that payments were routed to a TRX address, then rapidly converted from TRX to USDT, and subsequently to Ethereum (ETH). “Your dashboard showed fake balances.
All the so-called AI trading and daily profit updates were fabricated. Withdrawals were funded with other investors’ deposits—a classic Ponzi structure,” Owolabi said.
According to him, the platform relied on users reinvesting out of greed, thus keeping the scheme alive long enough to draw in more victims.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has since issued a warning, citing the newly signed Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025. The law now criminalizes the operation of online forex and digital asset trading platforms without prior registration with the commission.
“It is an offence in Nigeria for any entity that is not registered by the commission to carry out the business of online foreign exchange trading platforms or related services,” the SEC stated.
SEC Director General Dr. Emomotimi Agama hailed the ISA 2025 as a landmark in securing Nigeria’s capital market. “The law empowers the SEC to regulate digital and virtual asset exchanges, ensuring investor protection and market integrity,” he said.
He reaffirmed the SEC’s commitment to fostering innovation within a secure regulatory framework. “We welcome innovation, but it must occur within a regulated environment that protects investors,” Agama concluded. /Additional report by Punch