Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx announced its permanent shutdown and withdrawal suspension after a legal audit confirmed that managed assets were transferred to wallets outside the company's control, resulting in a shortfall of over $7 million. The company stated it cannot guarantee users will recover their full amounts.

The company reported the case to the prosecutor's office and filed criminal lawsuits against co-founder and former CTO Joaquín Díaz and former CEO Roberto Zibert, alleging that related transactions occurred between 2018 and 2021, with assets used for speculation on other platforms. The audit compared the system's records with on-chain custody addresses, revealing discrepancies in the balances of Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Polygon (POL/MATIC). The criminal complaint initially quantified losses at approximately $6.06 million, with the amount potentially increasing; publicly, it stated over $7 million. COO Thomas Mac Millan initiated external evidence collection on August 27 after discovering inconsistencies in the accounts. The two accused founders denied harming customer interests. The current CEO is another co-founder, Joel Vainstein.

The platform claims to have over 100,000 registered users and has operated for about nine years, previously promoting over $2 billion in transactions. Tether exclusively led its Series A funding round in June 2025. The Chilean Financial Market Commission (CMF) rejected its financial service provider registration application in June 2026, clarifying that the platform is not under regulatory oversight and does not supervise any closure plans, advising users to retain their records and pursue legal avenues. The company suspended withdrawals to prevent a first-come, first-served advantage, stating it would attempt to return funds in phases.

The shortfall was exposed after the license application was rejected. Fintech laws require custody and suspicious transaction reporting, yet Orionx continued to operate publicly without authorization. The presence of coins on the books and insufficient on-chain addresses indicates that customer assets left the company wallet years ago. The phased return lacks a repayment ratio and timeline.

Mechanically, this is a failure of custody repayment, not market volatility. Buyers are users wanting to retrieve their coins, while sellers are the now-empty platform. Funds flowed from customer custody wallets to external addresses years ago, making it impossible to return them through the original route today. Beneficiaries are addresses that transferred coins between 2018 and 2021, while the burden falls on the 100,000 users after the withdrawal suspension and those who viewed the license application as a safety endorsement for later deposits; regulators rejected the registration, leaving repayment to criminal and civil procedures.

Source: Public Information