Tether-backed crypto exchange freezes withdrawals after $7 million leaves custody

Tether-backed Orionx is shutting down with customer withdrawals frozen after more than $7 million left its custody.

The Chilean crypto exchange said a forensic audit found that customer assets had been transferred to wallets outside its control, prompting it to begin a permanent closure and suspend withdrawals while it determines how much it can return.

The failure comes less than a year after Tether invested in Orionx in June 2025, following an earlier investment by affiliated exchange Bitfinex in 2023. Tether’s backing had been intended to support Orionx’s expansion across Latin America.

Customers now face a less certain outcome. Chile’s Comisión para el Mercado Financiero said it cannot oversee Orionx’s wind-down or order the exchange to return customer assets, leaving users dependent on the company’s restitution process or potential court action.

Orionx said it froze withdrawals to prevent customers who move first from recovering assets at the expense of those who remain. Its closure tracker is still at the first of five stages, with account reconciliation and approval of a restitution plan required before funds are returned. No repayment date has been disclosed.

The CMF’s limited role stems from Orionx’s regulatory status.

The agency rejected the exchange’s registration and authorization application on June 19, ending a transitional arrangement that had allowed it to operate while the application was being reviewed.

From then on, Orionx was restricted to winding down existing business rather than taking on new regulated activity.

The regulator said Orionx was neither registered nor authorized under Chile’s Fintech Act and had failed to demonstrate that it had secured the collateral required of approved providers.

That means the CMF can point customers toward Orionx and the courts, but cannot compel repayment itself.

Orionx has said its priority is to return as much customer property as possible “as quickly and fairly” as circumstances allow. It also notified prosecutors about the transfers and filed a criminal complaint dated Sept. 2 against former executives. Those allegations have not established responsibility for the missing assets.

The more immediate issue for customers is how large the recoverable pool actually is.

Orionx still has to reconcile individual balances, determine available assets, and approve a distribution plan before restitution begins. The exchange’s own tracker shows those stages remain ahead.

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