CBEX, which misleadingly branded itself as China Beijing Equity Exchange, aggressively promoted itself as a futuristic cryptocurrency and forex trading platform powered by artificial intelligence. The pitch was simple and seductive: 100% returns on investment within 30 days, delivered through automated “AI trades,” flashy dashboards, and a smooth mobile experience.
It presented itself as secure, international, and licensed – claims that were never verified. It claimed to be registered in Canada, but operated almost entirely in Nigeria and Kenya. CBEX also used a multi-level marketing scheme, offering bigger bonuses the more new users an investor could recruit. To access profits, some users were required to refer up to 12 people, shifting the business model from trading to recruitment.
According to crypto.news, CBEX operated without a license from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission and was never authorised to offer trading services.
Google Trends: Surge Before Collapse
Google search interest in CBEX exploded just as the platform began to fail. According to Google Trends data, between March 30 and April 5, 2025, CBEX recorded a trend score of 31 in Kenya and 14 in Nigeria – a major spike from the near-zero levels maintained over the previous year. This suggests that public awareness surged after issues began with the platform, when many investors went searching for answers, and not before – highlighting a lack of early scrutiny.
A Timeline of Collapse
By early April 2025, users began reporting problems withdrawing funds. CBEX responded with a vague explanation about a “security breach,” assuring users that withdrawals would resume after a system upgrade scheduled for April 15.
However, instead of access being restored, user accounts were wiped clean – balances dropped to zero. The company deleted its Telegram groups, blocked comments, and ceased all public communications. Then came the final blow: CBEX demanded users pay a $100–$200 “verification fee” to recover funds – widely condemned as a last-ditch scam tactic.
Chaos in Nigeria: Office Looted in Ibadan
Frustration erupted into real-world chaos when angry investors stormed CBEX’s office in Oke Ado, Ibadan, Nigeria on April 15. According to BusinessDay, they looted everything from air conditioners and office chairs to electronics and glass windows. The scene, caught on viral videos, was emblematic of the outrage spreading across the country.
The platform, which had presented itself as a leading global exchange using “99.9% AI accuracy,” instead turned out to be another get-rich-quick trap – one that mimicked familiar scam tactics, like fake withdrawal records and inflated dashboards showing artificial trading profits.
Kenyan Users Also Hit
CBEX wasn’t just a Nigerian disaster. According to Business Daily, the collapse also affected Kenyan investors, many of whom lost significant amounts over the same weekend the platform went dark. In Kenya, CBEX had marketed itself aggressively, promising “super-profits” and easy withdrawals while pushing users to recruit others for bonus rewards.
With a trend score of 31 in Kenya, interest peaked at the same time as the Nigerian collapse, showing how the scam spread quickly across borders using social media and WhatsApp referrals.
In the past few hours we’ve seen many Kenyans on TikTok and X talking about being scammed by CBEX.
CBEX and Nigeria’s Ponzi Legacy
CBEX has now joined the ranks of Nigeria’s most devastating Ponzi schemes, alongside MMM (2015–2017) and Racksterli. According to NewsCentral, the CBEX model mirrored every hallmark of a Ponzi: unrealistic returns, referral-based growth, false profit dashboards, and no actual underlying business activity.
The platform claimed it began in 2017, but this contradicts domain records showing it only launched in Nigeria in 2024. Its entire user interface mimicked well-known platforms like ByBit – likely to build undeserved trust.
New Laws, Too Late?
Just weeks before CBEX collapsed, Nigeria’s President signed the Investments and Securities Act 2025 (ISA 2025) into law. According to NewsCentral, this act now makes it a criminal offence to operate unregistered digital asset exchanges or online forex platforms.
The law empowers the SEC to prosecute scammers, access information from telecoms and banks, and impose fines of ₦20 million or prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Still, enforcement has been weak. While the SEC has issued multiple warnings over the years, most Ponzi operators in Nigeria continue with little consequence. Victims, meanwhile, often have no legal recourse – and in the case of CBEX, very little chance of recovering funds.
Lessons: Blame Goes Beyond Greed
It is easy to blame victims for “falling again,” but CBEX thrived in a landscape of:
- High unemployment and inflation,
- Widespread distrust in banks and formal finance,
- Low financial literacy, and
- Aggressive digital marketing tactics using AI, crypto, and false legitimacy.
In this context, even experienced users can fall prey to slick scams.
Conclusion
CBEX is a reminder that Nigeria and Kenya remain vulnerable to new-age Ponzi schemes masked as fintech innovation. Until financial regulation keeps pace with digital scams – and public education improves – this cycle of destruction will keep repeating.
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