Chilean crypto exchange Orionx said it began a permanent closure after a forensic audit found more than $7 million in custodial assets had moved to wallets outside its custody, according to a company announcement reported on Sep 6, 2026. The firm said its sole priority is returning as much of clients' assets as possible. Withdrawals are temporarily suspended.
The shutdown comes about 15 months after Tether, the issuer of USDt, led Orionx's Series A in June 2025 as part of a push into Latin America. Founded in Chile in 2017, Orionx offered crypto trading and related financial services in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico.
Coverage citing Orionx's criminal complaint says the firm reviewed operations for Chile Fintech Law compliance and that chief operating officer Thomas Mac Millan detected a significant mismatch on Aug 27 between system balances and assets held in custody. An external forensic audit comparing records with on-chain data found system balances exceeded custody holdings for BTC, ETH, XRP and POL. Orionx's public post did not state when the more than $7 million in transfers occurred.
Orionx filed a criminal complaint against former co-founders Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz, who allegedly had access to custody systems. La Tercera reporting on the complaint says an account linked to Díaz allegedly received more than $1.5 million across 14 transfers, and another wallet allegedly received 187 ETH, more than 4.1 million USDT and 200,000 USDC from Orionx. Transfers are alleged between 2018 and 2021, including to other platforms. Zibert and Díaz denied wrongdoing and said the shortfall cause remains unclear.
Chilevisión reported that Chile's financial market commission (CMF) said in June 2026 it rejected Orionx's request for registration and authorization under the financial-services provider register, and that Orionx activities are not supervised by the CMF.
Orionx company announcement (via Cointelegraph, Helen Partz, Sep 6, 2026); La Tercera (complaint reporting); Chilevisión (CMF statement)