U.S. Treasury Moves to Cut MEXC Global Off From US Financial System Over Money Laundering Allegations
Key Takeaways
- •FinCEN accused MEXC Global of handling at least $16 billion in transactions connected to sanctions evasion, cybercrime, and other illicit activities between May 2021 and May 2026.
- •The alleged activity included roughly $1.5 billion tied to Russian sanctions evasion, of which $232 million involved direct dealings with entities sanctioned by the U.S., EU, and UK.
- •U.S. financial institutions will be prohibited from processing fund transfers involving MEXC 30 days after the order appears in the Federal Register.
- •The enforcement action is part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury initiative targeting networks accused of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions.
- •As of September 2026, MEXC reportedly processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions and held about $5 billion in reserves, and the exchange had not responded to requests for comment.
The U.S. Treasury has moved to cut cryptocurrency exchange MEXC Global off from the U.S. financial system, accusing the platform of facilitating at least $16 billion in transactions linked to sanctions evasion, cybercrime, and other illicit activities.
The order was issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Treasury bureau charged with safeguarding the U.S. financial system from money laundering and illicit finance. According to FinCEN, the transactions occurred between May 2021 and May 2026 and involved sanctioned actors in Iran, Russia, and North Korea.
The alleged activity included approximately $1.5 billion in transactions linked to Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with entities sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.
Under the order, U.S. financial institutions are prohibited from processing fund transfers involving MEXC Global. The restriction takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, providing institutions with a defined window to bring their operations into compliance. In practice, that places the compliance burden on U.S. banks and other covered institutions, which will need to ensure no fund transfers involving the exchange move through them once the restriction takes effect.
The action falls under Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury initiative targeting financial networks accused of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. It also lands amid a broader run of U.S. measures against crypto platforms over Iran-linked transactions — in related coverage, BitcoinKE previously reported on the U.S. sanctioning of two cryptocurrency exchanges for facilitating Iran transactions.
MEXC, which reportedly processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions and held approximately $5 billion in reserves as of September 2026, had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
The developments to watch from here are concrete: the Federal Register publication that starts the 30-day compliance clock, how U.S. financial institutions adjust during that window, and whether MEXC offers a public response.
This report was first published by BitcoinKE on November 7, 2026.
