A group of angry individuals stormed the CBEX office located in the Oke Ado area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Monday, looting furniture and other items after the digital trading platform reportedly crashed.
Eyewitnesses said the mob forcibly entered the premises, carting away tables, couches, and other office equipment.
The attack is believed to have been triggered by the sudden collapse of the platform, which allegedly left many users with zero balance in their accounts.
Following the incident, several users expressed frustration and grief over the loss of their investments, with some taking to social media to share their experiences.
A video circulating online shows a large crowd at the CBEX office, with individuals seen removing various items from the building.
Authorities have yet to release an official statement regarding the incident or confirm whether any arrests have been made.
According to circulating reports, the platform became inaccessible after users experienced difficulties withdrawing their funds. Many later discovered that their account balances had been wiped to zero.
CBEX had positioned itself as a high-yield investment platform, promising users a 100% return on investment within one month. Investments were made strictly in U.S. dollars.
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The crash has sparked a wave of emotional reactions online, with many investors expressing regret and frustration over their losses.
What is CBEX?
CBEX is a digital trading asset platform that gives investors 100 per cent Return On Investment in 30 days. Its purported goal was to create a secure, transparent environment for transactions.
However, its operational model now comes under scrutiny as allegations of fraud and deceptive practices emerge. The platform is said to display falsified withdrawal records to mask the difficulties users encounter when trying to access their funds.
The digital trading platform crashed on Monday after the money in their investors’ wallets vanished.
CBEX also locked its telegram channels and postponed its withdrawals while giving investors the lifeline of $2,000 for $200 verification and $1,000 for $100 verification.
Analysing the crash on X space organised by Trending X, a cryptocurrency expert and security analyst, Taiwo Owolabi said data has shown that the money was moved to a TRX address (yourself:TDqSquXBgUCLYvYC4XZgrprLK589dkhSCf) and a total volume stolen so far in USDT is $847 million and likely to increase.
Owolabi stressed that the invested funds are gone because CBEX is not a licensed platform, and the creators designed a weak website to look like ByBit, which is a legitimate trading platform.
“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, 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.
“Since, you won’t be leaving them because of greed. You will most likely put the money back and even more. So, they will use that same money to pay another person. As you spread the word for them, more people will join and do the same.”
Owolabi, while explaining on the X space, said that in reality, all the funds are gone. Unless people decide to pay the $100 and $200 verification fees, that way, they will settle some people and leave others to languish.
He also maintained that it was the same way popular Ponzi schemes that have duped Nigerians in the past behaved, adding, “It is a rob Peter to pay Paul’ deal.