Orionx, a Chilean crypto exchange backed by USDt stablecoin issuer Tether, is shutting down after uncovering multimillion-dollar issues linked to asset custody.
The exchange said it initiated a permanent shutdown after forensic audits found more than $7 million in assets in custody went to wallets it did not manage. According to In an announcement the company shared in X on Thursday.
“Our only priority now is to return assets to our clients as much as possible,” Orionx said, adding that withdrawals have been temporarily suspended.
The closing comes just 15 months after Tether led Orionx’s Series A as part of efforts to expand digital asset adoption in Latin America.
Orionx kept the timing of the $7 million transfer unclear
Orionx’s post did not specify when the transfer of more than $7 million occurred or how the discrepancy was initially uncovered.
As part of efforts to comply with Chile’s fintech legislation, Orionx conducted a review of its operations in 2025 and brought in financial professionals, According to La Tercera, Chile’s main newspaper, cited the company’s criminal charges.
On Aug. 27, Chief Operating Officer Thomas McMillan detected a “significant discrepancy” between the balance recorded in Orionx’s system and the assets actually in custody, according to the complaint.
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An internal review followed, and Orionx later conducted an external forensic audit that compared its records with data verifiable onchain. The audit revealed that the balance recorded on Orionx’s system is greater than the assets held in custody addresses of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP and Polygon (POL).
The criminal complaint alleges that assets were transferred out of Orionx’s custody between 2018 and 2021, along with accounts on other crypto platforms.
Complaints by Orionx co-founders, who deny wrongdoing
Orionx said it filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday against former executives Roberto Zibert and Joaquin Diaz, both co-founders who allegedly accessed the company’s crypto custody system.
The complaint alleges that an account linked to Díaz received more than $1.5 million across 14 transfers, while another wallet allegedly received 187 Ether, 4.1 million USDT and 200,000 USDC from Orionx, La Tercera reported.
Former executive and Orionx co-founder Roberto Zibert. Source: LinkedIn
Zibert and Diaz denial Allegedly, they have never acted against the interests of customers and the reason for Orionx’s resource shortfall is still unclear.
Tether supported Orionx in 2025
Founded in Chile in 2017, Orionx has grown from a retail crypto exchange to a platform offering crypto payments and financial services in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico.
Tether invested in Orionx in June 2025, exclusively leading the exchange’s Series A funding round. According to In an archived version of Tether’s announcement. D announcement No longer available on Tether’s website
Cointelegraph reached out to Tether and Orionx for comment but did not receive a response by the publication.
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