The US Department of the Treasury has ordered American financial institutions to stop processing money transfers involving crypto exchange MEXC Global, citing at least $16 billion in transactions linked to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity.

The order was issued on Friday, November 6, 2026, by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which designated MEXC as a money laundering concern. The transactions identified by Treasury involved sanctioned groups and activity connected to Iran, Russia and North Korea between May 2021 and May 2026.

The order will take effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. Until that publication and the expiration of the 30-day period, the rule is not in force. The Federal Register notice is therefore the milestone to watch, since it starts the countdown that would sever MEXC's access to the US financial system.

🇺🇸 BREAKING: US Treasury orders crypto exchange MEXC banned from the US financial system over $16 BILLION in illicit funds. Treasury says MEXC handled at least $16 BILLION tied to Iranian, North Korean and Russian sanctions evasion and cybercrime from May 2021 to May 2026. Once… pic.twitter.com/FOq66CVB0s — Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) November 6, 2026

https://x.com/coinbureau/status/2118799887978709187?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Details of the order

The Treasury said MEXC facilitated at least $16 billion in transactions associated with sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity. FinCEN said the exchange processed transactions involving sanctioned groups in Iran, Russia and North Korea, but its release did not attribute the entire $16 billion figure to any single country.

FinCEN said approximately $1.5 billion of the total was connected to Russian sanctions evasion.

Treasury also examined MEXC's compliance safeguards. MEXC says it maintains anti-money-laundering controls and blocks users in countries including Iran and North Korea. Treasury said those controls had “severe deficiencies” and described the threats linked to MEXC as serious. The department said the action would help protect the US financial system from illicit finance risks.

MEXC acknowledged the FinCEN order in a post dated November 7, 2026. The exchange said it was reviewing the action with its legal and compliance teams and that it continued to operate normally, with user assets remaining secure.

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. We take the concerns… — MEXC (@MEXC) November 7, 2026

https://x.com/MEXC/status/2118856659619717218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement: “Financial institutions cannot have it both ways: Either you support the Iranian regime, or you have access to the U.S. financial system.”

Bessent said the Treasury would continue working to cut off the Iranian regime's economic lifelines and to stop efforts to circumvent US sanctions through digital assets. The department described those efforts as desperate. The statement did not identify other exchanges that could face similar action.

Operation Economic Outcast

The action is part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury campaign launched in August to cut off financial entities that assist Iran in evading sanctions.

Treasury has targeted other crypto platforms during the past year. In June, it sanctioned Nobitex, described as Iran's largest crypto exchange. Treasury said Nobitex processed more than half of Iran's crypto inflows in 2025.

In September, the US sanctioned another Iranian exchange, BitBank, citing alleged bitcoin transfers to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The sanctions were imposed while the US remained in an ongoing conflict with Iran.

Unlike the Nobitex and BitBank sanctions, which targeted Iran-focused platforms, the MEXC action is a FinCEN order whose findings cover transactions tied to sanctioned groups in Iran, Russia and North Korea.

Data from DefiLlama showed that MEXC held approximately $4.48 billion in total assets as of Friday, when the order was announced. That figure represents the exchange's holdings and is separate from the $16 billion in alleged transactions cited by Treasury. The two numbers measure different things: the $16 billion represents cumulative transaction flow across the five-year span Treasury examined, while the $4.48 billion is a single-day snapshot of the platform's holdings.

Cointelegraph contacted MEXC for comment on the order, but the exchange had not replied by the time of publication. The Treasury order will become effective 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register.