U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network orders cut-off of cryptocurrency exchange MEXC Global’s access to the U.S. financial system
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on November 6 issued an order cutting off cryptocurrency exchange MEXC Global’s access to the U.S. financial system. The order is issued under Section 9714(a) of the Fight Russian Money Laundering Act and prohibits U.S. financial institutions from processing any fund transfers, including convertible virtual currency, involving MEXC Global. The order will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
FinCEN determined that MEXC Global is a primary money-laundering concern linked to illicit Russian finance. According to the Treasury Department, the platform facilitated at least $16 billion in transactions related to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity between May 2021 and May 2026, including nearly $1.5 billion related to Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with entities sanctioned by the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom; about $1 billion in direct dealings with more than 40 Iranian crypto exchanges; and about $22 million in transactions related to Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including the Quds Force. The platform continued transacting with Garantex and its successor Grinex in June 2026, more than four years after Garantex was designated by OFAC.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that financial institutions cannot have it both ways: they must either support the Iranian regime or have access to the U.S. financial system. The action is part of Operation Economic Outcast and is not an OFAC Specially Designated National sanctions action.
Original source:
Title: Operation Economic Outcast Severs MEXC Global’s Access to the U.S. Financial System Publisher: U.S. Department of the Treasury / FinCEN Date of publication: 2026-11-06 URL: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0685 Nature of source: official press release Verification status: This reading confirmed the full Treasury press release and the FinCEN page; verification date 2026-11-06 Supporting content: supports all core numbers in the body, legal basis, transaction details and Bessent quote
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On November 6, FinCEN issued a funds-transfer prohibition against MEXC Global under Section 9714(a) of the Fight Russian Money Laundering Act. The platform was founded in 2018, and as of September 2026 its average daily trading volume exceeded $1 billion, its reserves were about $5 billion, and it offered more than 3,000 tokens. The order prohibits U.S. financial institutions from processing any fund transfers involving the exchange, including convertible virtual currency, and takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
On the capital-flow side, FinCEN determined that at least $16 billion in transactions between May 2021 and May 2026 were related to sanctions evasion and cybercrime. Nearly $1.5 billion of that was tied to Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with entities sanctioned by the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom. The platform still transacted with Garantex and Grinex in June 2026 after Garantex was designated by OFAC in April 2022; about $1 billion was in direct dealings with more than 40 Iranian crypto exchanges, and another about $22 million was related to Iran’s central bank and the IRGC, including the Quds Force. The Treasury Department also mentioned transactions with the A7 network and the A7A5 stablecoin.
Compared with OFAC Specially Designated National sanctions, this action is a FinCEN funds-transfer prohibition and does not directly freeze assets or place MEXC on the SDN list. The similarity is that both sever connections to the U.S. financial system; the key difference is that the prohibition targets fund-transfer activity by U.S. financial institutions rather than directly blocking the exchange’s assets, and it explicitly focuses on illicit Russian finance while also covering transactions linked to Iran and North Korea.
For MEXC Global, U.S. financial institutions will no longer be able to provide fund-transfer services, which will limit its direct access to the dollar system. For related funds flows, the order will interrupt paths into and out of the platform through U.S. banks or intermediaries, but the platform itself may still operate under non-U.S. jurisdiction. For U.S. financial institutions, violating the order may result in civil or criminal penalties, and it does not change existing Bank Secrecy Act and OFAC obligations.
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The prohibition is based on Section 9714(a), takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, and bars U.S. institutions from any fund transfers with MEXC.
At least $16 billion in transactions was determined to be related to sanctions evasion and cybercrime, covering Russian, Iranian and North Korean channels.
The platform continued transacting with Garantex and Grinex in June 2026, more than four years after Garantex was designated, providing the basis for the finding of ongoing dealings.