Key Points

• Chilean crypto exchange Orionx is permanently shutting down after a forensic audit identified more than $7 million in customer assets transferred to wallets outside its custody.
• The audit found discrepancies involving Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Polygon, with the company’s records showing higher balances than those verifiable at its custody addresses.
• Orionx filed a criminal complaint against two former co-founders, who deny wrongdoing and say the cause of the shortfall remains unclear.

Orionx Begins Permanent Closure After Custody Shortfall

Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx is beginning a permanent shutdown after a forensic audit uncovered a multimillion-dollar discrepancy between customer assets recorded in its systems and cryptocurrency held in wallets under its control.

Orionx said more than $7 million in custodial assets had moved to wallets it did not manage. The exchange has temporarily suspended withdrawals as it begins the closure process and said its immediate priority is returning as much of its customers’ assets as possible.

The company did not publicly specify when the transfers occurred or explain how the full discrepancy was initially detected.

Audit Identifies Gaps Across Multiple Cryptocurrencies

The issue emerged during an operational review conducted as Orionx worked toward compliance with Chile’s Fintech Law.

According to reporting based on the company’s criminal complaint, Orionx identified a significant mismatch on Aug. 27 between balances shown in its internal systems and the assets actually held in custody.

The company subsequently commissioned an external forensic audit comparing internal records with data verifiable onchain.

The review reportedly found that Orionx’s recorded balances exceeded the cryptocurrency held at its custody addresses across Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP and Polygon (POL).

The criminal complaint alleges that some of the assets were transferred out of Orionx’s custody between 2018 and 2021, including transactions involving accounts at other cryptocurrency platforms.

The timing is significant because it indicates that at least some of the alleged movements may have occurred years before the current closure, although the available information does not establish precisely when or why each transfer took place.

Orionx Accuses Former Co-Founders

Orionx said it filed a criminal complaint against former executives Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz, both of whom co-founded the exchange and allegedly had access to its cryptocurrency custody systems.

According to the allegations reported by La Tercera, an account associated with Díaz received more than $1.5 million through 14 transfers.

Another wallet allegedly received 187 ETH, more than 4.1 million USDT and 200,000 USDC from Orionx.

These allegations have not been established as fact. Zibert and Díaz have denied wrongdoing, stating that they never acted against customers’ interests and that the underlying reason for Orionx’s asset shortfall remains unknown.

The dispute will now be subject to the relevant legal and investigative processes.

Tether Backed Orionx in 2025

The shutdown comes only around 15 months after Tether backed Orionx through its Series A financing.

Founded in Chile in 2017, Orionx expanded beyond retail cryptocurrency trading into payment and financial services, serving customers across Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico.

Tether exclusively led Orionx’s Series A round in June 2025, as the stablecoin issuer sought to expand digital asset adoption across Latin America.

The investment made Orionx part of Tether’s broader regional expansion strategy, making the exchange’s subsequent custody problems particularly notable for the wider Latin American cryptocurrency market.

Outlook

Orionx’s collapse underscores the importance of verifiable asset custody, internal controls and onchain reconciliation for cryptocurrency exchanges. The forensic findings provide a clearer picture of the reported asset discrepancy, but responsibility for the missing funds remains an allegation while the legal process develops. For customers, the immediate issue will be whether the remaining assets can be identified and returned, while the case could also increase scrutiny of custody practices among crypto platforms operating under Latin American fintech frameworks.