CryptoBridge eXchange (CBEX), the Ponzi scheme that tricked Nigerians out of millions of dollars, has once again broken its promise to repay its users. CBEX said it would begin processing withdrawals on June 25 and return 50% of users’ locked funds. That promise never materialised.
In April, CBEX abruptly froze withdrawals on its platform. Weeks later, the company claimed that its system had been hacked. Around the same time, it introduced a new requirement for Nigerians to pay a verification fee to access “sub-accounts” that would supposedly enable withdrawals. These payments initially ranged from $100 for accounts with less than $1,000 to $200 for accounts holding more than that amount. CBEX later changed the requirement to a flat verification fee of $100 for all accounts.
Four affected users told they paid the fee, hoping it would unlock their funds. They never got their money.
“Those guys [CBEX] have absconded with our money. They said they will be auditing till December 25, 2025,” said Jesi Treasury, one of the users. “CBEX has come up with a new scheme called HHHE Limited. They claim they are partnering with them [HHHE], but we know it’s all lies.”
After missing the June 25 repayment deadline, CBEX told users it was conducting an audit to detect arbitrage traders on its platform. The audit, like the earlier explanations, is another excuse to delay repayments and keep users hopeful.
spoke to another user who claimed that he received three separate payments. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he provided screenshots and transaction proofs, all of which was able to verify as legitimate. He remains an outlier. did not find other users who got paid since April; most of CBEX’s Nigerian user base has heard nothing from the platform.
“I invested about $1,000 into CBEX in late November and withdrew in January, February, and March before letting my money compound,” said the anonymous user who claimed VIP status and was paid again on June 4, 5, and 9, 2025, after making withdrawal requests. “Each time I withdrew, CBEX took a 5% handling fee. I also opened accounts for my wife and two kids over 18, and the referrals pushed me to VIP. But I still haven’t made any gains from CBEX. I haven’t recovered the money I used to open those accounts.”
CBEX continues to issue daily “trading signals”—alphanumeric codes users are instructed to copy and paste in the app at specific times. This daily ritual has become more of a distraction than a solution, as the company continues to buy time.
The platform also shifted its repayment date from June 25 to December 25, 2025. It insists that it is still carrying out an audit. But this audit is increasingly looking like a smokescreen. While it asks for more time and trust, the platform has moved on to newer schemes.
CBEX adopts a new identity
On June 27, it announced a partnership with a company called ZS Exchange Group, quietly discarding its previous affiliation with Super Team Technology (also known as ST Technology). ST Technology, according to several checks, was a non-existent business entity. It produced no identifiable revenue and left no traceable footprint.
CBEX described ZS as a “cryptocurrency investment team,” but according to checks by , the only known firm with that name is ZS, an Indian management consulting and technology company founded in 1983. There’s no evidence linking this ZS to CBEX. It could be another case of CBEX naming real-sounding “partners” to make its operation seem legitimate.
In partnership with “ZS Group,” CBEX has spun off another website called HHHE, adopting the same faux blueprint. On its website, HHHE flaunts a Money Services Business (MSB) licence issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), part of the US Treasury Department. But this, too, raises red flags.
Google and social media searches for ZS Exchange, the supposed parent group behind HHHE, return no credible results. There is no registered company by that name and no indication of a legitimate operation. Instead, HHHE mimics CBEX’s familiar playbook: replicate legitimacy, buy time with empty assurances, and target new users.
Even as many Nigerians are still waiting to be repaid, some have given up hope. Others remain trapped in the cycle, unwilling to cut their losses. could not find any confirmed Nigerian users currently registered on the HHHE platform, but a few may have likely signed up, driven by desperation.
CBEX, with its broken promises, unverifiable audits, and replica schemes, will join the long and bitter list of Ponzi operations that have swindled Nigerians and vanished into thin air.
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