Original report published November 7, 2026, at 05:06:03 UTC+8.
The U.S. Treasury Department ordered American financial institutions to stop processing transfers to or from MEXC Global, alleging that the crypto exchange facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions connected to Iran, North Korea and Russia.
According to Decrypt’s original report, the order was issued Friday through Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. It forms part of a broader campaign called Operation Economic Outcast and takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register—not immediately upon announcement.
What FinCEN alleges
FinCEN described MEXC as a major conduit for sanctions evasion and cybercrime, designating it a “primary money laundering concern” in connection with Russian illicit finance.
The agency said the exchange moved at least $16 billion connected to illicit activity between May 2021 and May 2026. Its findings included:
- Nearly $1.5 billion tied to Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with sanctioned entities.
- Transactions with sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026, more than four years after Garantex was first designated.
- Roughly $200 million linked to the A7A5 stablecoin.
- About $22 million benefiting Iran’s central bank and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.
These figures and characterizations are attributed to FinCEN. The supplied report does not include a response from MEXC.
MEXC publicly claimed to maintain anti-money-laundering controls and prohibit users in jurisdictions including Iran and North Korea. FinCEN nevertheless alleged “severe deficiencies” in its compliance.
Why the action matters
The order targets a sizable exchange. Founded in 2018, MEXC was described in the report as one of the world’s 20 largest crypto exchanges. According to FinCEN, it processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions, held around $5 billion in reserves and offered more than 3,000 tokens.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the action as a choice between supporting the Iranian regime and retaining access to the U.S. financial system, pledging to continue cutting off its economic lifelines and efforts to evade sanctions through digital assets.
The measure uses a provision of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, rather than a standard sanctions designation. The report describes it as a tool FinCEN has increasingly used against crypto infrastructure operating outside the correspondent banking system.
Part of a wider enforcement campaign
In the month before the report, Treasury designated Russia’s A7 Network a transnational criminal organization and proposed excluding its front companies from U.S. finance. It flagged more than $179 billion in transactions through the network’s ruble-backed A7A5 token, much of it routed through Garantex and Grinex.
The broader campaign also included expanded authority to sanction anyone operating in Iran’s crypto sector and the blacklisting of Iranian exchange Nobitex over its role in funneling crypto to the IRGC.
The reported MEXC order establishes a restriction on U.S. financial institutions. The source does not establish its eventual operational impact on the exchange or its users.