Tether-backed Orionx fills custody gap of over $7 million

Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx announced its permanent closure due to an asset gap of more than US$7 million.

On September 3, 2026, Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx announced that it would permanently cease operations. Previously, a forensic audit found a shortage of more than $7 million in its custody assets. Currently, the customer withdrawal function has been suspended and Orionx is calculating balances and preparing for the planned asset return process.

Regulatory deficiencies and illegal allegations

It is worth noting that Chile's Financial Market Commission rejected Orionx's authorization application in June this year and has never regulated the daily activities of the platform. Orionx operated under transitional arrangements before formally filing a criminal complaint, but after the application was rejected, it could only end existing businesses and not engage in new regulated transactions.

Orionx has filed criminal charges with Chilean prosecutors, accusing two co-founders of suspected mismanagement. However, the two former executives have firmly denied the allegations and said the root cause of the asset shortage has not yet been identified. These allegations have not yet been confirmed by the court.

Details of funding gap and potential risks

According to information provided by Orionx, this shortage involves four crypto-assets: Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Polygon. Internal records show the assets are available, but cannot be fully verified at company-controlled addresses. The audit results showed that the company recorded customer balances that exceeded the actual assets held in its custody wallets, which was a mismatch between the balance sheet and custody assets, rather than the attack on the blockchain network itself.

Since Orionx did not publish the specific wallet addresses affected, complete transaction hashes or shortage details by asset, independent blockchain researchers are currently unable to verify the company's calculations. In addition, the exchange did not provide the exact number of customers affected or the proportion of funds that may be recovered from external wallets, exchanges or individuals.

Orionx warns customers through its official channels to be wary of impersonation during the shutdown. The platform emphasizes that it will never request private keys, two-factor authentication (2FA) codes or request transfers via phone, WhatsApp, email or social media. Customers waiting for funds to be recovered are often easy targets for phishing and false recovery service scams.

Criminal charges point to two former executives

Orionx filed criminal charges against former general manager Roberto Zibert and former technical director Joaquín Díaz on September 2. The two men helped establish the exchange and were accused of having privileged access to the cryptocurrency custody system. Local media Diario Financiero reported that forensic inspections linked custody differences to wallets outside Orionx's control.

According to La Tercera, the controversial transactions occurred between 2018 and 2021; other local reports say the largest transfers may have occurred in 2021 and 2022. These time points are based on the content of the complaint rather than judicial determinations. The complaint documents alleges that the account associated with Díaz received more than $1.5 million through 14 transfers; another wallet allegedly received 187 ETH, 4.1 million USDTs, and 200,000 USDC. However, the transfer of funds to an address does not directly prove who was in control of the wallet at the time or whether it constituted a crime.

Zibert and Díaz "firmly rejected" the allegations in a joint response, saying they had never harmed customers 'interests. As of now, no former executive has been convicted, and criminal complaints have only initiated investigation procedures and have not confirmed Orionx's claims.

Regulators clarify that they have no right to order refunds

On September 4, Chile's Financial Markets Commission clarified that Orionx is neither registered under the Fintech Act nor authorized. Regulators said they do not monitor Orionx's activities or control its shutdown process. The committee noted that Orionx failed to prove that it held the guarantees required by authorized financial service providers, but that did not amount to proving alleged custody misconduct.

Although Orionx informed customers that it had notified relevant authorities of its closure plan, the committee emphasized that the plan was neither approved nor supervised by it and that regulators had no authority to order Orionx to return customers 'assets. The Commission recommends that customers contact the company directly, keep account statements, transaction records and correspondence documents, and file a complaint through Chilean courts or provide evidence to prosecutors when it is believed that a crime has occurred.

Tether's investment background attracts attention

Looking back on history, Tether led Orionx's Series A financing in June 2025, aiming to expand Latin America's stablecoin infrastructure. At that time, neither party disclosed the specific investment amount or Tether's shareholding ratio. The financing is designed to support remittance, collection and corporate treasury services in Chile, Peru, Mexico and Colombia.

Tether's original announcement has been removed from its official website, but an archived copy is still accessible. Tether did not publicly say whether it retained investments or exercised board rights after Orionx announced the closure. At the same time, Tether continues to invest in regulated companies in other regions, such as its minority investment in Bit2Me, demonstrating its consistent strategy of building regional financial infrastructure in Latin America.

Customers face uncertain return process

Orionx said the first phase of the shutdown was underway, but did not announce a specific repayment schedule. To prevent some customers from withdrawing assets before other customers, the withdrawal function remains suspended. The exchange said its top priority was to return as much of its customers 'assets as possible, a wording that confirmed the uncertainty of full reimbursement and did not promise to recover all losses for each customer.

Future verifiable progress will depend on Orionx's client notifications, the actions of Chilean prosecutors, and any court decisions that affect the disputed wallet. Publishing transaction hashes will also allow independent researchers to assess suspected asset movements. Customers require a separate balance confirmation so that Orionx can determine its share of assignable assets. Money recovery may also depend on whether prosecutors can locate funds from other exchanges or freeze wallets associated with disputed transfers.