Orionx shuts down after audit reveals $7M custody gap

Orionx, one of Chile’s most prominent crypto exchanges, is permanently shutting its doors after a forensic audit uncovered more than $7 million in customer assets that had been moved to wallets outside the platform’s custody. The exchange suspended withdrawals and announced its closure on September 3, 2026, leaving over 100,000 registered users wondering whether they’ll ever see their funds again.

The day before going public with the news, Orionx filed criminal complaints against two former executives, Joaquín Díaz and Roberto Zibert, alleging they misappropriated customer assets over a multi-year period from 2018 to 2021. The missing funds span holdings in Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Polygon.

From Tether backing to criminal complaints

The collapse is particularly striking given Orionx’s trajectory over the past year. In June 2025, Tether made a strategic investment in the exchange as part of its Series A funding round. The deal was supposed to supercharge Orionx’s stablecoin services across Latin America, positioning the platform as a regional gateway for digital dollar adoption.

Making things worse, Chile’s Financial Market Commission, the CMF, rejected Orionx’s application for regulatory authorization in June 2026. The rejection confirmed that the exchange had been operating without the proper licenses required under Chile’s Fintech Law.

The CMF has also made clear that it won’t be overseeing the closure or any restitution process, leaving Orionx to manage the situation independently.

What went wrong, and when

The alleged misappropriation took place between 2018 and 2021, meaning customer funds were reportedly being siphoned for years before anyone caught on. Orionx launched in 2017, so this was happening while the exchange was building its user base and reputation across Latin America.

The forensic audit identified discrepancies in BTC, ETH, XRP, and MATIC holdings. The total gap exceeded $7 million.

Orionx has announced a phased plan for asset restitution, though the exchange has stopped short of guaranteeing that all users will be made whole.

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