Tether-backed Chilean cryptocurrency exchange Orionx has announced its shutdown after a forensic audit confirmed the outflow of more than $7 million from the exchange to wallets not under the company’s control.

 

Announcing the closure, Orionx said in an official statement that it had filed a complaint with Chile’s Public Prosecutor’s Office against the exchange’s former executives and co-founders, Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz, accusing them of disloyal administration.

 

 

In the complaint, the exchange accused its former executives of moving customers’ crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and Polygon, between 2018 and 2021. Orionx said the transactions were concealed from the exchange and that the assets were transferred to wallets that did not belong to the company.

 

Although a breakdown of Deloitte’s $7 million shortfall has yet to be published, several Chilean news outlets, including La Tercera and BioBioChile, reported that the shortfall included $3.93 million worth of Bitcoin, $2.29 million worth of Ether, and approximately $201 worth of Polygon.

 

Closure Plans

 

As part of its shutdown plans, Orionx has temporarily suspended withdrawals from the exchange. While the asset closure and restitution plans have already been reported to the relevant authority, the exchange said it would do everything in its power to return as many assets as possible to its clients.

 

Prior to its closure announcement, Chile’s Financial Market Commission (CMF) rejected Orionx SpA’s application in June to register with the Registry of Financial Service Providers and obtain authorization under the Fintech Law.

 

Orionx was one of seven companies whose applications were rejected by the CMF due to observations that the companies failed to remedy during the evaluation process, as well as failures to submit the necessary documentation.