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Tether-Backed Orionx Shuts Down After $7M Custody Gap
A forensic audit found balances exceeded assets held in custody, and Orionx said withdrawals are temporarily suspended while it seeks to return client funds.
- On Thursday, Chilean crypto exchange Orionx announced permanent closure after a forensic audit discovered more than $7 million in custodial assets had moved to wallets it did not manage.
- Chief operating officer Thomas Mac Millan detected a "significant mismatch" between recorded and actual balances on Aug. 27, prompting the forensic audit during Orionx's compliance review for Chile's Fintech Law.
- The exchange filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday against co-founders Roberto Zibert and Joaqu, alleging they transferred 187 Ether and more than $1.5 million to private accounts between 2018 and 2021.
- Zibert and Joaqu denied the allegations, saying they "never acted against customers interests," while Orionx suspended withdrawals and stated its "sole priority now is to return as much of our clients assets as possible."
- The closure arrives just 15 months after stablecoin issuer Tether led Orionx's Series A funding round to expand digital asset adoption in Latin America, marking a significant setback for the investor's regional strategy.
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Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx is closing after nine years of operation. On Thursday, it informed customers that...
Tether-Backed Orionx Shuts Down After a $7 Million Crypto Gap Surfaces
Chilean crypto exchange Orionx shut down permanently on September 3, 2026 after an audit found a $7 million gap between customer holdings and actual custody wallets. Tether led the exchange's Series A in 2025 and has since deleted that announcement from its website without comment.
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