FinCEN Cuts Off MEXC Global From U.S. Banks Over $16B Illicit Flows
A section 9714 order bars U.S. institutions from sending funds to or from the top-20 exchange, effective 30 days after Federal Register publication. Treasury tied the move to Operation Economic Outcast.
The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an order on Friday that cuts MEXC Global off from the U.S. financial system. FinCEN found the convertible virtual currency exchanger to be of “primary money laundering concern” in connection with Russian illicit finance and prohibited U.S. financial institutions from transmitting funds to or from the platform.
The order sits under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. It takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Violations can bring civil or criminal penalties. Treasury said the order does not rewrite Bank Secrecy Act filing duties or OFAC sanctions already on the books.
Today, as part of Operation Economic Outcast, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated eight money services businesses based in Canada that enable the Iranian regime.
Additionally, @FinCENnews issued an order effectively cutting off MEXC Global’s access to the…
Treasury’s press release puts hard numbers on the allegation. Between May 2021 and May 2026, FinCEN says MEXC facilitated at least $16 billion tied to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity. That includes nearly $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion, with $232 million in direct transactions with U.S.-, EU-, and UK-sanctioned entities. FinCEN says the platform was still processing transactions with sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026 — more than four years after OFAC designated Garantex in April 2022.
The same window includes about $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 identified Iranian crypto exchangers, about $22 million tied to Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Qods Force, at least $26 million benefiting the OFAC-sanctioned A7 sanctions-evasion network, and almost $200 million connected to the A7A5 stablecoin used by that network.
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Treasury describes MEXC as a 2018-founded platform that, as of September 2026, processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions and held about $5 billion in reserves — among the world’s top 20 crypto exchangers by that measure. FinCEN says the firm’s stated AML and customer-verification policies, and its public bans on customers in Iran and North Korea, did not stop severe control failures.
The MEXC order landed the same day as a companion OFAC action under the same campaign. Treasury designated eight Canada-based money services businesses for operating in Iran’s digital-asset sector, including firms that advertise rial-to-crypto exchanges. Secretary Scott Bessent framed both moves as part of Operation Economic Outcast, which Treasury launched in August to cut Iranian regime financing that uses crypto rails.
MEXC is aware of the order issued by the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on November 6, 2026, and is reviewing it closely in coordination with our legal and compliance teams.
MEXC is operating normally, and user assets remain secure.
MEXC said in an official post that it is aware of the Nov. 6 FinCEN order, is reviewing it with legal and compliance teams, and that “user assets remain secure” while operations continue. The exchange said it intends to engage constructively with FinCEN and other regulators and has started an independent review of its AML and sanctions controls.
For a U.S. reader the practical question is banking access, not a trading ban written for retail wallets. Once the order is effective, U.S. banks and other covered institutions generally cannot process transfers that involve MEXC. Dollar on-ramps and off-ramps that touch U.S. rails get harder or disappear. Existing BSA and OFAC duties still apply on top of the new ban.
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