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Hopes fade for Kenyans seeking refunds from hacked crypto trading platform
The typical cryptocurrency user in Kenya is under 40 years old and primarily invests in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT, which are the top cryptos globally.
Investors’ hopes for compensation for money lost on a popular cryptocurrency and forex trading platform known as CBEX have been dampened amid endless postponements of promised refund dates.
Some Kenyans whose accounts on the CBEX platform were wiped out about 10 days ago were initially promised refunds from April 19, 2025, only for the compensation plan to be pushed back by two months to June 2025.
“We were promised refunds last week, but that never happened. They are instead shifting the refunds back by two months. I lost a tidy sum after my cryptocurrency wallet was wiped clean, and these guys (CBEX) are yet to compensate me for the loss” an investor told Business Daily.
A cryptocurrency is a digital form of money that is not issued or controlled by any monetary authority and is traded online via digital exchanges and marketplaces.
An update from the CBEX team confirmed the deferred refund dates—dampening hopes of investors who lost their fortunes on the platform, which had promised them sumptuous returns of up to 30 percent in just 30 days.
“All accounts that complete verification and receive compensation from the ST (ST Technologies International Limited) team before June 25, 2025, will be eligible to withdraw 50 percent of their lost principal after June 25,” the CBEX team said in an update to affected investors via the Telegram messaging platform.
“After August 25, 2025, the remaining lost principal can be withdrawn. After October 25, 2025, each account will be able to withdraw 30 percent of its account balance as profit after the 25th of each month,” it added.
CBEX claimed that an impending audit by the UK government has delayed compensations.
“Therefore, we must wait for the UK government to send people to audit the bills of CBEX and ST projects before we can withdraw cash. It is estimated that it will take 30-60 days. When the audit is completed, we will notify you and you can withdraw cash” it said in an update.
The CBEX team last week blamed the account wipes on alleged breaches in its AI-based trading platform—triggering widespread anguish among investors trading on its platform in Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt, where it had attracted attention with promises of AI-powered super profits, lucrative bonuses for referrals and easy withdrawals.
“After thorough investigation, we have discovered that some malicious fraud platforms have used hacking methods to implement targeted attacks on our trading system, deliberately conducting operations that are contrary to the signals of the AI trading system, severely disrupting the market order,” the company said in a message to clients last week.
“Those attackers employed various tactics, including massive “full-margin” operations to collectively hedge and suppress the market at the moment AI systems trading signals,” it claimed.
Full margin refers to trading with the maximum amount of funds allowed, significantly amplifying both potential profits and losses.
CBEX then promised that users would be compensated for the losses upon authentication of their accounts.
“We are fully aware that a large number of individuals have suffered losses, and therefore, we need to provide sufficient time to resolve this matter. The deadline is three days from now, ending at 23.59 UK time on the 17th (April)” the platform said.
“Any accounts that have not been confirmed and claimed within the time frame will be treated as fraudulent accounts associated with scammers and will be permanently banned, with no further claims accepted in the future” CBEX added.
But in a move that has further rattled users, the CBEX team said that it would charge them to verify their accounts before processing them.
Those with less than $1,000 (Sh129,613) in their accounts will have to pay $100 (Sh12,961) for verification, while those with more than $1,000 will have to part with $200 (Sh25,929).
“After depositing, compensation will be credited within 1-24 hours,” CBEX had indicated last week.
The cryptocurrency market is very active in Kenya with an estimated 730,000 users trading on various platforms. However, it is unregulated, although the National Treasury intends to bring the market under the control of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
A recent market survey commissioned by the International Monetary Fund team and done by a technical working group comprising officials from the CMA and the CBK, revealed that the typical cryptocurrency user in Kenya is under 40 years old and primarily invests in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT, which are the top cryptos globally.
