FinCEN orders U.S. financial institutions to stop funds transfers with crypto exchange MEXC Global, citing $16.7 billion in likely illicit activity

The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released an order Nov. 6 that bars U.S. financial institutions from sending or receiving funds, including cryptocurrency, to or from the crypto exchange MEXC Global.¹² FinCEN found that MEXC Global “is of primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance,” the legal basis for the order under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act.¹

Treasury said in a release that between May 2021 and May 2026, MEXC Global moved “at least $16 billion in funds” connected to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity.² The order itself puts the figure at $16.7 billion for the same period, which it describes as “likely illicit activity” in FinCEN’s assessment.¹ Those figures are the agencies’ findings.

What the order does

The operative sentence says a covered financial institution “is prohibited from engaging in any transmittal of funds from or to MEXC Global.” Covered institutions are those defined as financial institutions in federal Bank Secrecy Act rules. The prohibition is written for them, not for individual customers.¹

The order takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and has “no cessation date.”¹² Institutions that willfully violate it may face civil or criminal penalties.¹

MEXC Global, as the order defines it, covers the Seychelles-incorporated exchange, its branches, subsidiaries and offices operating as financial institutions outside the United States, and any successor. Branches, subsidiaries and offices located in the United States are excluded.¹

FinCEN’s figures

Each figure below is a separate measure as FinCEN gives it, and they are not added together here.¹

• Russia: nearly $1.5 billion in direct and indirect exposure to transactions linked to Russian sanctions evasion, May 2021 to May 2026, including $232 million in direct transactions with entities sanctioned by the United States, the European Union or the United Kingdom.
• Garantex and Grinex: about $129 million in activity with the sanctioned exchange Garantex and $4.1 million with Grinex, its successor, after their designations; the order says this continued as recently as June 2026.
• Iran: more than $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 Iranian crypto exchangers, and about $22 million associated with Iran’s central bank and the IRGC and its Quds Force, May 2021 to May 2026.
• Cybercrime: at least $1.99 billion from or to illicit cyber actors, May 2021 to May 2026.

The order says MEXC Global’s anti-money laundering processes, “to the extent they exist, are insufficient,” and that FinCEN relied on blockchain data and non-public information.¹

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the release, “Financial institutions cannot have it both ways: Either you support the Iranian regime, or you have access to the U.S. financial system.”²

MEXC’s response

In a post on X reported by Coinpedia, MEXC said it “is aware of the order” and “is reviewing it closely in coordination with our legal and compliance teams.” The company said it “is operating normally, and user assets remain secure.” Coinpedia reported that MEXC also said it had begun an independent review of its anti-money laundering and sanctions controls and planned to work with FinCEN and other regulators.³ SignalData did not open MEXC’s post directly. Coinpedia’s account does not include a denial of FinCEN’s figures.³

What the records do not show

The order does not itemize the $16.7 billion or list individual transactions, and part of its basis is non-public. It does not mention any criminal charge, indictment, court ruling or civil suit against MEXC Global, and does not say MEXC received notice or a chance to respond beforehand; it says MEXC Global or others with relevant information “may submit it to FinCEN.”¹ FinCEN’s copy leaves the effective date as a placeholder, and SignalData did not find the order in the Federal Register as of Nov. 9, so that date is not known here.¹