Nigeria exposes CBEX Ponzi scheme, involving tens of millions of dollars

Odaily Planet Daily News Nigerian digital asset trading platform CBEX was exposed as a Ponzi scheme, causing a large number of investors to lose money. Although local media reported early on that the loss was as high as 1.3 trillion naira (about 800 million US dollars), analysis pointed out that the address was actually a Binance hot wallet, and the actual loss amount may be closer to 12 million US dollars. CBEX calls itself "China Beijing Equity Exchange", but in fact it has nothing to do with the official Chinese institution of the same name. The platform uses AI quantitative strategies as a platform, promising to double returns in 30 days, attracting a large number of investors to participate and requiring rebates for pulling people in. In essence, it is a typical Ponzi structure. The project was even promoted as a "poverty alleviation program" in Nigerian national media, further misleading users. By April 2025, CBEX suddenly froze accounts, and users were unable to withdraw money, which aroused public anger. Some investors surrounded its offices in Ibadan and Lagos, and a large number of victims also publicly disclosed their loss experiences on social platforms. Independent analyst Specter pointed out that CBEX is associated with other similar scams LWEX and PCEX, and is suspected of sharing the same website architecture and fund flow model. The related wallet is also associated with Huione Pay, a Southeast Asian payment system, which has been listed by Elliptic as one of the main hubs for money laundering and telecommunications fraud, involving more than $24 billion in suspicious transactions. (CryptoSlate)