I had always been driven. Ambitious. Determined. I grew up in the heart of Lagos, where every day felt like a struggle. My family was barely making ends meet, and the weight of responsibility always seemed to fall on my shoulders. As the oldest of five, I felt it was my duty to change our circumstances, to lift us out of poverty, to give my younger siblings the chance at a future they deserved.
So when I first heard about CBEX, it felt like a gift—a sign that I could finally make it. “High returns, quick profits, the future of finance,” the ads promised. “Don’t miss out—this is your chance to secure a better future.”
I had heard the whispers. Stories of people getting rich from cryptocurrency. Of these so-called “untapped opportunities” in the digital economy. But for me, it wasn’t just about wealth. It was about possibility. About hope. It was my way out. I told myself this was the answer, the golden ticket I’d been waiting for.
At first, there were warnings. People said it sounded too good to be true, that the returns were too high, the promises too extravagant. But I was a risk-taker. I always had been. I couldn’t afford to sit on the sidelines anymore. I needed this. I wanted this.
My friend Chuka—he was the one who really pushed me. He said, “You don’t need to listen to the naysayers. Everyone’s talking about it. If you don’t act fast, you’ll miss out on the chance of a lifetime.”
It felt like destiny. I couldn’t let it slip away. The promise of quick returns—the kind of returns that would change everything—was too tempting to resist. So I did it. I invested. I took everything I had saved, plus a loan from my mother, and put it all in. The money I had been planning to use for my younger siblings’ education, the savings I had painstakingly put aside for the future.
I convinced myself it was worth it. “This is for them,” I told myself. “This is for my family. This is for their future.”
And the first few weeks were magical. My investment grew almost daily. The numbers on the screen climbed higher, faster than I could have imagined. The notifications from my CBEX account were constant, each one a reminder of how close I was to achieving everything I had ever dreamed of.
I started making plans. “I’ll build a business. I’ll send my siblings to the best schools. We’ll never have to worry about money again.” I shared the good news with my family, and their faces lit up with excitement. Finally, I was going to deliver on my promises. “Just wait and see,” I said. “Everything is about to change.”
But even as I spoke, there was a quiet voice in the back of my mind. A voice that whispered caution, that told me not everything that glitters is gold. My mother, who had seen her fair share of struggles, often reminded me, “Just be careful. Sometimes, things that sound too good to be true… aren’t.”
I shrugged it off. I didn’t have time for doubt. “I’ll be fine,” I thought. I was smart. I knew what I was doing. I wasn’t one of those people who would fall for a scam. I could handle it.
But that’s the thing about greed—it clouds your judgment. You become so consumed by the vision of what’s to come that you forget to see the risks.
The day it all came crashing down was like any other. I logged into my CBEX account as usual, expecting to see my investment grow, maybe even more than I had hoped. But today, there was something different.
Error: Account Temporarily Unavailable.
My heart skipped a beat. I refreshed the page, but the message stayed the same. I clicked the button again and again, each time growing more frantic. The numbers weren’t increasing. They weren’t doing anything at all.
Panic started to rise in my chest. I pulled out my phone, trying to reach customer support. The line was dead. The website was down. I couldn’t get through.
By mid-afternoon, the rumors began to spread. People were posting in the forums—“Is your account frozen too?” “I can’t get in. What’s going on?” The panic was palpable. The dread was sinking in as I realized that something was terribly wrong. My stomach twisted as I read through the comments.
By evening, the truth became clear. CBEX had collapsed. It wasn’t just a technical glitch. It wasn’t a temporary issue. The platform was gone. It had been a scam from the start. A Ponzi scheme, designed to lure in investors with promises of high returns, only to take their money and disappear. I wasn’t the only one. Thousands of others had invested everything, just like me.
My mind went numb. All of it—gone. The money I had poured in. The money my family had trusted me with. The promises I had made. It was all gone, vanished into thin air.
The next few days were a blur. I couldn’t face my family. I couldn’t even bring myself to talk to anyone. My phone kept ringing—calls from friends, relatives, people I had convinced to invest. Everyone was desperate for answers. But I didn’t have any answers. How could I? I was just as lost as they were.
The guilt weighed heavily on me. I had promised so much. I had promised a better life. And now, I had nothing. Worse, I had led others into the same trap.
I couldn’t sleep. I barely ate. My mind was consumed with the mess I had made. I had been so blinded by the idea of quick success that I had ignored the warnings. I had let greed cloud my judgment. And now I was paying the price.
But even in the darkest moments, I knew I couldn’t stay there forever. I had made a mistake—a massive one—but I had to learn from it. I had to find a way to move forward.
It wasn’t easy. It took time to pick up the pieces. I started over, slowly, painfully. I worked harder than ever, rebuilding what I could, but with a new understanding of the world. The world wasn’t kind to people who chased after shortcuts. There were no easy paths to success.
I reached out to others who had been affected by the collapse, hoping to share the lessons I had learned. It wasn’t much, but I needed to help in any way I could. I shared my story, hoping others would listen—hoping they wouldn’t make the same mistake I had made.
In the end, I learned a valuable lesson. Success isn’t built on promises of quick wealth or easy returns. It’s built on hard work, patience, and a deep understanding of the risks involved. And most importantly, it’s about not letting greed cloud your judgment.
The crash of CBEX took much from me, but it also gave me something far more important: wisdom. It’s a lesson I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.
The End.
