Is Orca wrongly breaking bonds? Why can it only optimize the molecule with COPT activated? I would like to ask for help in using Orca (v. 4.0.0) for conducting a simple optimization.

First I have this structure (primarily optimized using MMFF94s force field on Avogadro):



Thus I tried to conduct a simple optimization by using Orca and just as a test I used the following input:

! PAL8 PBE def2-SVP def2/JK RIJONX TightOpt TightSCF CPCM(DMSO) KeepDens NormalPrint Grid4 FinalGrid5
%method
    Z_MaxIter 150
end
%scf 
    MaxIter 150 
end

*xyz 0 1
C       4.026085     -1.212051      0.000031
C      -3.313454      0.000008     -0.000131
C       5.413748     -1.205853     -0.000365
C      -4.026091      1.212051     -0.000333
C       6.111884      0.000013     -0.000433
C      -5.413752      1.205847     -0.000315
C       5.413733      1.205871     -0.000018
C      -6.111885     -0.000021     -0.000102
C       4.026071      1.212051      0.000379
C      -5.413728     -1.205875      0.000032
C       3.313452     -0.000005      0.000350
C      -4.026066     -1.212050      0.000016
C       1.893686     -0.000008      0.000523
C       0.678508      0.000000      0.000397
C      -0.678520      0.000009      0.000187
C      -1.893672      0.000016     -0.000043
H       3.483003     -2.148319      0.000143
H       5.951276     -2.145874     -0.000768
H      -3.483012      2.148322     -0.000572
H       7.194627      0.000021     -0.001168
H      -5.951286      2.145866     -0.000334
H       5.951249      2.145899     -0.000149
H      -7.194627     -0.000032      0.000311
H       3.482975      2.148312      0.000762
H      -5.951240     -2.145905      0.000285
H      -3.482967     -2.148309      0.000048


Thus after running it, I saw that somehow Orca was "splitting" all bonds and getting this:



However, my job keeps going without detecting any problem and it just ends because hits the maximum allowed iterations.

I also tried to change the basis set, but without success. Also, I have played a lot with functionals, changed between LDA and GGA ones without success, semiempirical also have not shown any good result.

The only thing I could use to solve this problem was by setting COPT instead of OPT only, which changes Orca to cartesian coordinate (but was I already using cartesian coordinates?).

I just wonder why that is happening. Am I missing something? What is wrong with my input to cause Orca to "split" all atoms apart? And why Orca only can optimize this molecule with COPT activated?
It seems to be a bug with optimization in internal coordinates. As I already mentioned in comments, ORCA couldn't converge at geometry relaxation step when optimization is done in internal coordinates. Switching to optimization in Cartesian coordinates (coordsys cartesian) or old internal ones (coordsys redundant_old) in the %geom section of the input, or using the ! COPT simple input as OP has done, solves the issue.

P.S. OP might report it as a bug at ORCA forum so that developers can take a closer look at this case.