Nigerians have taken to social media to express their frustration after a digital asset trading platform, CBEX, allegedly drained over N1.3 trillion from investors’ accounts on Monday.
The platform, which lacked legal approval from the Nigerian Securities Commission, collapsed when investors noticed their funds had disappeared from their wallets. As a result, CBEX locked its Telegram channels and postponed withdrawals, while offering investors the option to pay for verification, asking for $200 to verify for $2,000, and $100 for $1,000 verification.
This incident has drawn widespread criticism from Nigerians on X.
Taiwo Owolabi, a cryptocurrency expert and security analyst, explained that the total value of stolen funds is around $847 million in USDT and could continue to rise. He questioned why Nigerians would invest in an unregistered platform with promises of 100% return on investment.
“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, and 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,” Owolabi explained during an X space.
Steve Fred, another user on X, criticized Nigerians’ gullibility, saying:
“Are we not just fantastically stupid in Nigeria?
“Nigerians are as gullible as their leaders. How many times will they be scammed before they have sense?
“How can a company like ‘CBEX’ just appear from thin air and promise you 100 percent ROI in 1 month, and you begin to invest?”
Similarly, Oku, a user on X, reacted to the crash, saying:
“The smaller the profit, the more I TRUST YOU.
“You have no business doing a business that promises you 50 percent to 100 percent ROI.”
This comes after the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently cautioned Nigerians to avoid investing in unregistered trading platforms.
The SEC reminded the public that under the newly signed ISA 2025, it is now an offense for any entity to operate an online forex trading platform or provide related services without registering with the commission.
“By virtue of this act, it is an offense 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.
“Any business entity planning to set up a business in any of these areas is advised to visit the HOD DRM Department of the commission for further direction on how to register with the commission to avoid sanctions,” the SEC stated.