Liquid Bitcoin sidechain halted after $320M withdrawal; Citi, DBS tokenize payment

By Khal · · 1 min read

Editorial illustration: Transparent tracks carrying pale rectangular tokens branch toward a closed gate. Two stone bank-like buildings share a separate transparent bridge, above a recessed row of copper-colored discs on a dark blue surface.
AI-generated editorial illustration · AI-generated editorial illustration · Published Sep 7, 2026, 1:07 p.m. (13 minutes ago)

In brief

  • Liquid sidechain halted after $320M Bitcoin withdrawal representing 95% of network wallet balance
  • Citi and DBS completed tokenized deposit transfer on Swift in minutes versus two-business-day standard
  • Orionx exchange permanently shutting down following discovery of $7M in missing customer assets

Liquid's $320 Million Withdrawal and Pause

Liquid paused operations after the large withdrawal, with Blockstream, Liquid's technology provider, beginning contact with the actors through signed onchain messages. The actors made clear demands: patch the vulnerability and ensure every node was updated before they'd return most of the Bitcoin.

SideSwap said the L-BTC used in the transaction originated from a bug in Elements, the open-source software underpinning Liquid. Other assets issued on the network, including USDT, DePix and real-world assets, remained unaffected by the withdrawal.

Swift's Tokenized Payments Gain Momentum

In a separate development, Citi and DBS completed a weekend cross-border payment using tokenized deposits on Swift. The transaction was executed on Saturday between Singapore and the US, marking another milestone for blockchain-based settlement. The deposit was finalized in minutes, which DBS called a "significant improvement" from the industry norm of as long as two business days for traditional cross-border transfers.

This follows Standard Chartered and HSBC's first tokenized cross-border transaction on Swift's blockchain ledger in August. Swift said its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use in July and was preparing to pilot tokenized cross-border payments with 17 major banks.

Orionx Shuts Down After $7 Million Audit Finding

Chilean crypto exchange Orionx is permanently shutting down after a forensic audit found more than $7 million in customer assets had moved to wallets outside its custody. The exchange has filed a criminal complaint against former executives and co-founders Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz.

The alleged transfers occurred between 2018 and 2021, according to local reports. The timing is notable: Tether led Orionx's Series A funding round in June 2025 as part of its expansion into Latin America, meaning the Tether-backed exchange faced immediate reputational damage before its funding was even finalized.

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