At least 27 investors have been hospitalised following the sudden crash of the CBEX Trading Platform, a digital asset trading site, in Oyo State. Many Nigerians who invested in what is now being viewed as a Ponzi scheme expressed their frustrations on social media after losing over ₦1.3 trillion to the platform’s collapse on Monday.
The CBEX Trading Platform, which operated without approval from the Nigeria Securities Commission (SEC), suddenly went offline, with investors’ funds disappearing from their accounts. The platform also locked its Telegram channels, postponed withdrawal requests, and offered affected users a $200 verification fee for accounts with balances of $2,000 or more, and $100 for deposits below $1,000.
The fallout from the crash sparked emotional distress among investors in Ibadan, with reports of several being admitted to hospitals due to stress and related health issues. One victim, Sherif Latifu, called on Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to assist by subsidizing hospital bills for those affected. “Many hospitals in Ibadan are now admitting victims of the CBEX crash. Over 27 people I know have been hospitalised. This is a major crisis, and we need help,” he said.
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Cryptocurrency expert and security analyst Taiwo Owolabi explained the technical faults behind the platform’s collapse. He revealed that around $847 million in USDT (Tether) has been stolen so far through the platform, and the figure might grow. Owolabi criticized investors for trusting an unregistered platform promising unrealistic 100% returns. “The website was designed to fake security breaches as an excuse for losing people’s money. When users deposit funds, those funds are quickly moved and converted through different currencies, so investors only see numbers, not actual money,” he explained.
This scandal comes amid ongoing warnings from the SEC against unregistered trading platforms. The commission recently reminded Nigerians that operating an online forex or digital trading platform without SEC registration is illegal under the ISA 2025 signed by President Bola Tinubu. The SEC urged anyone seeking to start such platforms to register properly to avoid penalties.
Angry investors in Ibadan also protested at the CBEX office in Oke Ado, demanding answers and intervention after the platform’s sudden collapse.
