Orionx shuts down after audit reveals $7 million custody gap

Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx is permanently shutting down and has suspended withdrawals for its 100,000 users after a forensic audit uncovered a custody gap exceeding $7 million. The exchange filed a criminal complaint against co-founders Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz, accusing them of siphoning Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and Polygon between 2018 and 2021. The co-founders deny the allegations. The collapse follows a June 2025 Series A investment from Tether and a June 2026 licensing rejection by Chile's Financial Market Commission.

Orionx exchange shutdown

• ▪Orionx stated that its sole priority during the closure is to return as much of its clients' assets as possible through a phased asset restitution plan
• ▪Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx announced a permanent closure process and temporarily suspended customer withdrawals on September 3, 2026
• ▪The closure of Orionx leaves more than 100,000 registered users of the platform uncertain about the recovery of their funds

Forensic audit custody gap

• ▪An external forensic audit commissioned by Orionx revealed a custody gap exceeding $7 million, with assets moved to unmanaged wallets
• ▪Orionx chief operating officer Thomas Mac Millan detected a significant mismatch between recorded balances and actual custodial assets on August 27, 2025
• ▪The forensic audit identified that balances recorded in Orionx's systems exceeded actual custody holdings for Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and Polygon

Criminal complaint against co-founders

• ▪Orionx filed a criminal complaint on September 2, 2026, against former executives and co-founders Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz
• ▪The criminal complaint alleges that an account associated with Joaquín Díaz received over $1.5 million across 14 transfers from Orionx
• ▪The criminal complaint alleges that Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz misappropriated customer assets between 2018 and 2021, transferring them to other platforms
• ▪Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz denied the allegations, stating they never acted against customer interests and that the shortfall cause remains unclear

Tether Series A investment

• ▪Tether led a Series A funding round for Orionx in June 2025 to expand digital asset and stablecoin adoption in Latin America
• ▪Orionx, founded in Chile in 2017, expanded its retail crypto exchange services to Peru, Colombia, and Mexico prior to its shutdown

Chilean regulatory context

• ▪Chile's Financial Market Commission confirmed Orionx operated without proper licenses and stated it will not oversee the exchange's closure or restitution
• ▪Chile's Financial Market Commission rejected Orionx's application for regulatory authorization under the country's Fintech Law in June 2026

Debatable claims

• ▪Regulators should ban crypto exchanges from operating during license reviews
• ▪Crypto platforms should immediately disclose detected asset discrepancies
• ▪Chile's Financial Market Commission should oversee the Orionx restitution

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