US Treasury moves to cut crypto exchange MEXC off from financial system over $16B
What's the deal? The US Treasury Department has ordered crypto exchange MEXC Global cut off from the US financial system, alleging it facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued the order on November 6, barring US financial institutions from processing fund transfers to or from the exchange.
Why the action? FinCEN found that between May 2021 and May 2026, MEXC moved funds tied to Iranian, North Korean, and Russian sanctions evasion, cybercrime, and other illicit activity. That included nearly $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion and $232 million in direct transactions with entities sanctioned by the US, European Union, and United Kingdom.
Treasury said MEXC kept processing transactions with sanctioned Russian exchange GarantexDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026 — more than four years after Garantex was designated in April 2022.
What Treasury says: "Financial institutions cannot have it both ways: Either you support the Iranian regime, or you have access to the U.S. financial system," said chief executive of Treasury Scott Bessent. Treasury cited "severe deficiencies" in MEXC's anti-money-laundering controls despite the platform's stated policies barring users in Iran and North Korea.
How big is MEXC? Founded in 2018, the exchange processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions and held roughly $5 billion in reserves as of September 2026. It ranks among the top 20 crypto exchanges globally, offering access to more than 3,000 cryptocurrencies and tokenised assets.
What happens next? The order takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. It is not a global shutdown and does not freeze customer deposits; it specifically targets MEXC's access to US financial intermediaries. The exchange says it operates normally and has launched an independent controls review.
The signal: The move extends US financial-system controls to a large offshore exchange, shifting compliance pressure onto banks and payment firms that touch its flows. It fits a broader 2026 campaign under Operation Economic Outcast, which has increasingly used restrictions on financial access rather than conventional sanctions to choke off shadow-finance networks.
Read more: home.treasury.gov
Image credit: *rboed*
