FinCEN Cuts Off Crypto Exchange MEXC Over $16 Billion Flows
FinCEN ordered U.S. banks on Nov. 6 to stop transfers with MEXC Global, which Treasury says moved at least $16 billion tied to sanctions evasion and cybercrime.
Featured photo: the U.S. Treasury Department building in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, public domain.
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an order on Nov. 6, 2026, that effectively cuts cryptocurrency exchange MEXC Global off from the U.S. financial system.
The order bars U.S. financial institutions from sending funds to or receiving funds from MEXC Global, Treasury said. It takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Treasury announced it under Operation Economic Outcast, its campaign against the Iranian regime’s finances.
What Treasury found
Treasury said MEXC Global moved at least $16 billion between May 2021 and May 2026 that was connected to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity. That included nearly $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion, of which $232 million were direct transactions with U.S.-, EU- and U.K.-sanctioned entities.
The department said the exchange was still processing transactions with the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex and its successor, Grinex, as recently as June 2026. It also cited at least $26 million benefiting the sanctioned A7 network and almost $200 million tied to the A7A5 stablecoin.
On Iran, Treasury said MEXC Global had about $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 Iranian crypto exchangers, and about $22 million in transactions for the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Qods Force. It also cited North Korean sanctions evasion, ransomware and scam payments, and darknet market activity.
The exchange
Treasury said MEXC Global was founded in 2018, ranks among the 20 largest crypto exchangers in the world and, as of September 2026, processed more than $1 billion a day with about $5 billion in reserves. It said the platform bars users in Iran and North Korea on paper, but that severe weaknesses in its anti-money-laundering controls let such users through. The release did not include a response from MEXC Global.
The legal basis
The order was issued under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, which Treasury said makes MEXC Global of primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance. Violations can bring civil or criminal penalties.
The same day, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned eight Canadian money services businesses it said help move money into and out of Iran through digital assets.
What it means
Analysis: The order uses a Russia-focused law against an exchange Treasury also links to Iran and North Korea, which shows how one platform can serve several sanctioned networks at once. Blockchain analysts and exchanges that settle with MEXC Global have 30 days to adjust before the ban bites.
Sources
- U.S. Department of the Treasury: Operation Economic Outcast Severs MEXC Global’s Access to the U.S. Financial System
- U.S. Department of the Treasury: Operation Economic Outcast Sanctions Eight Canadian Money Services Businesses Enabling Iranian Regime
Related coverage
- Economic Warfare Update Nov 7, 2026: MEXC Cut Off, FATF
- U.S. Sanctions 45 More Prince Group Scam Network Targets
- U.S. Sanctions Fake Ship Registries Used by Iran’s Tankers
