Orionx, a Chilean cryptocurrency exchange backed by stablecoin issuer Tether, said it will permanently cease operations following a forensic audit that identified a custodial shortfall exceeding $7 million. The audit showed that assets recorded on Orionx’s books were higher than the balances held at its custody addresses for Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Polygon, prompting the exchange to suspend withdrawals while it works to return client funds.
The discrepancy was first flagged on Aug. 27 by chief operating officer Thomas Mac Millan, who detected a “significant mismatch” between internal records and on‑chain holdings. An internal review led to an external forensic audit that compared Orionx’s ledger with blockchain data, confirming the gap.
Orionx filed a criminal complaint accusing co‑founders Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz of unauthorized transfers. The complaint alleges that a wallet linked to Díaz received more than $1.5 million across 14 transfers, while another address received 187 Ether, over $4.1 million in USDT and 200,000 USDC. The alleged transfers occurred between 2018 and 2021. Both former executives deny any wrongdoing and say the cause of the shortfall remains unclear.
Tether led Orionx’s Series A funding round in June 2025, investing to support the exchange’s expansion across Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. The exchange, founded in 2017, had grown from a retail platform to a broader crypto‑payment and financial‑services provider. Orionx’s closure comes 15 months after the Tether‑backed financing round.
The company has not responded to requests for comment, and Tether also declined to comment at the time of publication. Orionx’s priority, according to its statement on X, is to return as much client assets as possible while the shutdown proceeds.
