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The US Treasury Department announced Friday that its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an order effectively cutting off crypto exchange MEXC Global from the US financial system, citing at least $16 billion in transactions linked to illicit activity.
The order prohibits US financial institutions from processing funds transfers to or from MEXC, following findings that the exchange facilitated transactions connected to Iranian, Russian and North Korean sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity.
According to Treasury, MEXC processed at least $16 billion in transactions associated with illicit finance between May 2021 and May 2026, including nearly $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion.
That activity included $232 million in direct transactions with entities sanctioned by the US, European Union and United Kingdom.
Treasury said MEXC continued processing transactions involving sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026, despite Garantex having been sanctioned in April 2022.
The exchange also facilitated at least $26 million in transactions benefiting the sanctioned A7 network and nearly $200 million connected to A7A5, a stablecoin used by the network to facilitate sanctions evasion, according to Treasury.
Iranian activity accounted for another significant portion of the transactions identified by FinCEN.
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Between May 2021 and May 2026, MEXC sent or received approximately $1 billion in direct transfers involving more than 40 Iranian crypto exchanges, including some subject to international sanctions.
Treasury also identified approximately $22 million in transactions benefiting Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its Qods Force.
Despite MEXC’s stated policies prohibiting activity involving sanctioned jurisdictions, FinCEN said deficiencies in its anti money laundering controls allowed prohibited transactions to continue.
The action forms part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury campaign launched in August targeting financial networks supporting Iran and its sanctions evasion activities.
The order was issued under Section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act and will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Financial institutions that violate the restrictions could face civil or criminal penalties.
As of September, MEXC processed more than $1 billion in daily trading volume and maintained approximately $5 billion in reserves, according to Treasury. The exchange offered access to more than 3,000 cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets.
