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Treasury Orders US Banks to Cut Off Crypto Exchange MEXC Over $16 Billion in Illicit Flows

The Treasury Department's FinCEN barred American financial institutions from transmitting funds to or from MEXC Global, saying the exchange moved at least $16 billion tied to sanctions evasion and cybercrime. The ban takes effect 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register.

By admin Nov. 7, 2026 · 9:45 AM ET 3 min read

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The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ordered American financial institutions on Friday to stop transmitting funds to or from MEXC Global, saying the cryptocurrency exchange facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions between May 2021 and May 2026. FinCEN put the figure at $16.7 billion in its order, while the Treasury’s press release rounds it to at least $16 billion.

FinCEN designated MEXC a financial institution of primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance, acting under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. The action is part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury campaign against sanctions evasion through cryptocurrency.

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What Treasury says MEXC moved

The largest share Treasury cited involved Russia: nearly $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with entities sanctioned by the United States, the European Union and Britain. FinCEN said MEXC was still processing transactions with Garantex, a sanctioned exchange, and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026. It also cited at least $26 million tied to the A7 network and about $200 million connected to the A7A5 stablecoin.

Treasury also cited about $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 identified Iranian cryptocurrency exchangers, plus about $22 million that benefited the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Qods Force. The order also covers North Korean sanctions evasion, ransomware and scam payments, and Russian and other darknet market activity.

The white neoclassical United States Treasury building in Washington, D.C., with rows of columns under a blue sky

How the ban works

The order bars covered American financial institutions from any transmittal of funds to or from MEXC Global, including transfers involving convertible virtual currency. It applies to MEXC entities operating outside the United States. The restriction takes effect 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register, and as of Saturday morning it had not yet appeared there, so no start date is fixed. The order sets no expiration date, and violations can bring civil or criminal penalties.

The order is not a sanctions designation. MEXC was not added to the Treasury’s list of blocked parties, no property was blocked, and the order does not shut the exchange down or tell users to move their balances. Users outside the United States are not directly affected, though other firms can still apply their own controls to funds that come from MEXC.

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MEXC, founded in 2018 and incorporated in Seychelles, is one of the 20 largest cryptocurrency exchangers in the world, processing more than $1 billion in daily transactions as of September and holding about $5 billion in reserves, according to Treasury. In a response dated November 7, the exchange said it was operating normally, that user assets remained secure, and that its legal and compliance teams were reviewing the order. It said it had begun an independent review of its anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls and intended to engage with FinCEN and other authorities.

The effects are already reaching beyond American banks. SpendNode, a payments publication, said it observed a warning in the Plasma One app that deposits originating from MEXC are suspended.

Reporting based on coverage by SpendNode and the Halving Report, citing the U.S. Treasury.

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