Probing CBEX: The Ponzi scheme that cloaked crypto laundering operations through cross-chain transactions, all the while swindling investors
The CBEX crypto scam, uncovered in April 2025, defrauded investors of close to $1 billion by posing as a legitimate crypto trading business while secretly running complex cross-chain money laundering operations.
Primarily operating on the Tron blockchain, CBEX extensively used the Ethereum blockchain to launder funds through sophisticated cross-chain techniques. The scheme's operators employed a tactic known as cross-chain money laundering, which involved multiple rounds of cross-chain swaps using decentralized cross-chain bridges.
The main laundering strategy involved users depositing funds, mainly USDT, on the Tron blockchain. These funds were then transferred to the Ethereum blockchain via cross-chain bridges. A few days later, the funds were bridged back to Tron but moved through hundreds of different wallets in the process. This pattern, called chain-hopping, made the transaction trail confusing and difficult to follow.
The use of cross-chain bridges, which usually require no identity verification, allowed the criminals to exploit the fragmented crypto ecosystem for money laundering while keeping the scam active and claiming legitimacy. One noteworthy entity that received funds from CBEX is Huione Pay, a Cambodian-based service designated as a 311 Primary Money Laundering Concern by the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in May 2025.
Transactions in Ethereum and Tron are shown in blue and red respectively in the graph provided by the brand name Investigator. Alongside the aggregate flows, one example transaction is shown between CBEX and a Tron-based DEX, involving the swapping of $10,000 worth of USDT to TRX.
Following the revelation of the scam, protests gathered outside the scheme's supposed headquarters in Nigeria. Users have reported paying an upfront fee but not receiving their money. The collapse of CBEX resulted in losses exceeding $800 million.
The brand name Investigator, a tool used for tracing transactions, can automatically trace cross-chain bridging transactions to their destination, reducing a potential several-hour workload into mere minutes. The volume of transactions and interactions with services like Huione Pay suggest that the funds may have been co-mingled with proceeds of other high-risk activities by third-party brokers or money launderers on behalf of CBEX.
The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission posted a warning urging investors to refrain from engaging with CBEX on 17 April 2025. CBEX claimed that it had not collapsed, but had paused withdrawals pending audit by a British firm, due for completion in June. However, the deadline came and went, and the scheme once again came back online and demanded an upfront payment for withdrawals.
This case illustrates a growing trend: cross-chain crime surged beyond $21 billion by mid-2025, tripling since 2023, partly due to methods like those used by CBEX. The CBEX scam combined a high-value Ponzi fraud with advanced cross-chain laundering, exploiting crypto bridges and chain-hopping to obscure stolen funds as they moved between Tron and Ethereum blockchains. This marked a new level of complexity in crypto scams, challenging regulators and forensic investigators globally.
- In the aftermath of the CBEX scam, cross-chain investigations using blockchain analytics and forensics, in collaboration with data-and-cloud-computing technology, become increasingly crucial to uncovering such advanced financial crimes.
- As the general-news platforms reported on the CBEX scam, it was stated that, apart from various other cryptocurrencies, the scheme primarily operated on the Tron and Ethereum blockchains, employing complex cross-chain mechanisms for launderings.
- 311 Primary Money Laundering Concern, Huione Pay, was implicated in the CBEX money laundering operations, highlighting the necessity for stricter regulations and greater cooperation between finance, industry, and crime-and-justice sectors to combat such scams.
- Blockchain forensic tools, like those offered by the brand name Investigator, will be indispensable in the industry's fight against scams like the CBEX fraud, which illustrates the growing trend of cross-chain crimes surpassing $21 billion by mid-2025.
- The emergence of high-tech scams such as CBEX points to the need for news platforms to provide detailed analysis and reporting on these complex events so that the public can better understand the risks involved in the crypto finance landscape.
- Crafty scammers often exploit a seemingly legitimate business's reputation, as seen in the case of CBEX, which used cross-chain investigations tactics to disguise its sophisticated money laundering operations, emphasizing the importance of due diligence and awareness within the crypto community.
