Orionx begins permanent closure after audit finds more than $7 million missing

Orionx, a Chile-based cryptocurrency exchange, said it is permanently shutting down after a forensic audit found that customer-custody assets worth more than $7 million had been transferred to wallets “not managed by the company,” and it has suspended withdrawals as it begins a closure process.

In a public notice dated Sept. 3, Orionx said it had started a “definitive closure” of operations after the audit confirmed the transfers. The company said it has informed authorities and begun a closure and asset-restitution plan, but cautioned that it “cannot currently guarantee 100% restitution” to customers. For users of the platform, that means access to funds is frozen for now and full recovery is uncertain.

Orionx also said it filed a criminal complaint with Chile’s Ministerio Público, the public prosecutor’s office, and a formal querella, a criminal legal filing, against former executives. BioBioChile, which said it reviewed the querella, reported that it names former executives and co-founders Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz and alleges “administración desleal,” a Chilean offense often translated as disloyal or improper management, among other matters under investigation. Those allegations come from the filing as described by local media and have not been established in court. Zibert and Díaz denied wrongdoing in a customer communication quoted by Chilevisión, saying: “Rechazamos categóricamente los cargos que se nos imputan. Nunca hemos actuado en contra de los intereses de nuestros clientes…”

There is also a discrepancy in the reported size of the shortfall. Orionx’s public statement said the amount involved exceeds $7 million. BioBioChile reported that the querella quantified the shortfall at about $6,066,152 across bitcoin, ether, polygon and XRP. The outlet also reported that the filing places most of the questioned transfers in 2021 and 2022, with references to earlier findings in July 2018 and January 2019. Press reports said the querella is dated Sept. 2.

A second issue for customers is regulatory oversight. Chile’s financial regulator, the Comisión para el Mercado Financiero, or CMF, said on Sept. 4 that Orionx “was not and is not” registered or authorized under Chile’s fintech law, Ley N°21.521. The CMF said Orionx’s application for registration and authorization was rejected on June 19, 2026, through Oficio Ord. N°104672.

That means the CMF was not supervising Orionx at the time of the shutdown. The regulator said it is not administering the company’s closure and does not have authority to order restitution of customer funds. In practical terms, customers facing suspended withdrawals cannot look to the CMF to manage the wind-down or direct repayments.

Chile’s Ley N°21.521, published in 2023, created a regulatory framework and registry for fintech firms, including companies offering crypto-related custody services. The key point in Orionx’s case is that the CMF says the exchange never completed the registration and authorization required to come under its supervision.

The shutdown could affect a sizable user base. Reporting citing company documents has said Orionx had more than 100,000 registered users. For those customers, the immediate picture is a halted platform, an unresolved restitution process and a closure unfolding outside the supervision of Chile’s main financial regulator.