The vibrant pulse of Nigerian social media, usually a mix of entertainment and trending news, has been overshadowed this week by a wave of anguish and disbelief.
The subject of the storm is the reported collapse of an online cryptocurrency trading platform known as CryptoBank Exchange, or CBEX as it was known to its users.
CBEX, which began its Nigerian operations in 2024, advertised itself as an artificial intelligence-powered cryptocurrency trading platform that allows users to buy and sell digital assets with promises of “100 per cent returns every month.
For thousands of Nigerians who entrusted their hard-earned money to CBEX, Monday brought a chilling realisation.
Wailing investors came on social media to say CBEX, which dangled the tantalising promise of a 100% return after one month of investment, had locked them out of their accounts and vanished with their investments.
‘Zero balance’
Attempts to access their funds were met with account screens that showed "zero balance".
Local media reports indicate thousands of Nigerians have been caught in the alleged fraud perpetrated by unidentified foreign nationals with the Nigerian partners.
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday announced a formal investigation into the alleged loss of millions of dollars through alleged perpetrated by the digital investment platform.
EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale told Nigeria's Channels TV: "The commission would collaborate with the International Criminal Police Organisation to investigate the incident."
The impact of the alleged fraud is being vividly documented on social media, with TikTok becoming the platform for raw emotion.
Victims have posted videos where they pleaded with CBEX to "return" their "life savings".
Victim account
One investor's personal account of events, shared on Facebook, encapsulates the shock and devastation felt by many.
"This is how I lost 9 million naira to CBEX,” the user wrote. “I got back home from the island this evening, and my team member, whom I spent most of the day with inspecting properties, sent me a message alerting me that her trade balance on CBEX had been wiped clean.
“Fearing her account had been infiltrated, I rushed to my own CBEX account and met it at $0.00 too. In confusion, I opened the Telegram group to see thousands of messages from Nigerians cursing CBEX."
The timing of the collapse of the scheme is particularly poignant, coming just days after the national regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a clear warning to Nigerians "to stay clear of unregistered trading platforms".
The SEC referenced the newly signed Investment and Securities Act, 2025, emphasising that "it is now an offence for any entity to operate an online forex trading platform or provide related services without prior registration with the commission."
Mixed reactions
With CBEX’s doors now slammed shut, a mix of reactions have come on social media users. While some offer sympathy to victims, others have been critical of them for failing to learn from past Ponzi schemes in Nigeria which collapsed.
Nigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel cryptocurrency exchange Binance to pay $79.5 billion for economic losses it says were caused by its operations in the country.
Others however condemn the mockery victims have endured on social media, arguing that their investments were often born out of "desperation to improve their financial situation due to very harsh economic realities".
The frustration has boiled over in southwest Ibadan, Oyo State, with local media reporting aggrieved investors stormed the CBEX office, which had no staff present, and carted away furniture and office equipment in a show of frustration.
Police have since been deployed to other CBEX office locations across the nation to prevent further breakdown of law and order.
