The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a final order Friday that cuts offshore exchange MEXC Global from the American banking system over alleged links to sanctions evasion by Iran, North Korea and Russia.
FinCEN's order finds MEXC a "primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance" under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. Thirty days after the order publishes in the Federal Register, covered U.S. financial institutions will be barred from any funds transfer, including convertible virtual currency, to or from MEXC.
Treasury alleges MEXC facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit flows from May 2021 through May 2026. The flows include nearly $1.5 billion tied to Russian sanctions evasion and about $22 million linked to Iran's Central Bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force. The platform processed trades with sanctioned Garantex and successor Grinex as recently as June 2026, more than four years after OFAC designated Garantex, according to the release.
The order, signed by FinCEN Deputy Director Jimmy L. Kirby, covers MEXC Global and named affiliates operating outside the United States, including Seychelles-incorporated MEXC Global Ltd, Estonia's MEXC Estonia OÜ, Switzerland's GIDA Technology AG and the U.K.'s MXC Global Ltd. Covered institutions face civil or criminal penalties for willful violations.
MEXC, founded in 2018, ranks among the world's 20 largest centralized crypto venues by volume. Treasury puts daily turnover above $1 billion and reserves near $5 billion as of mid-2026, with access claimed across more than 170 countries. The exchange already lists the United States as a prohibited jurisdiction in its user terms.
MEXC has not issued a public response to the Friday order.