In April 2025, Nigeria witnessed another major Ponzi scheme collapse as CBEX, a crypto investment platform falsely posing as “China Beijing Equity Exchange,” shut down operations and froze user accounts. Initial reports pegged investor losses at ₦1.3 trillion ($800 million), though independent investigations later estimated the real losses to be between $6.1 and $12 million.
CBEX lured investors with promises of 100% monthly returns, using fake AI trading claims, social media buzz, and official-looking documents—including a FinCEN registration—to appear legitimate. In reality, CBEX was moving investor funds through TRX wallets, converting them to USDT and then ETH, all while showing users fake numbers on a hollow dashboard. Cryptocurrency expert Taiwo Owolabi summed it up: “All the AI trading is fake. When it’s time for withdrawal, they will send you another person’s money.”
The collapse sparked protests and chaos, especially in Ibadan, where angry victims looted the company’s office. Many Nigerians, from different economic backgrounds, reported losing life savings. One woman shared how she lost $1,000 earned abroad.
The SEC had previously flagged CBEX as unregistered. Under Nigeria’s new Investment and Securities Act (2025), unregistered platforms face steep penalties—including prison terms and fines up to ₦40 million. Still, the scheme spread fast, aided by social media and the country’s surging interest in copy trading and crypto, a trend experts warn creates fertile ground for fraud.
CBEX’s story follows the playbook of MMM and other scams but dressed in modern tech jargon like “blockchain” and “AI-powered trading.” Its downfall is a stark reminder: when promises seem too good to be true, theyusually are.
As the old saying goes, “The bulls make money, the bears make money. The pigs get eaten.”
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