WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Treasury Department cut off cryptocurrency exchange MEXC Global from the American financial system on November 6, 2026, saying the platform moved at least $16 billion in illicit transactions tied to sanctions evasion and cybercrime, the department announced.
Read the Treasury release: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0685/
The order was issued by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, and bars U.S. financial institutions from processing funds transfers involving MEXC Global, the release stated.
The Exchange, The Volume, The $16 Billion Trail
MEXC Global was founded in 2018 and is one of the 20 largest convertible virtual currency exchangers in the world, the release stated. As of September 2026, the platform processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions and held about $5 billion in reserves, offering trading in more than 50 currencies and access to more than 3,000 cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets, the release stated.
Between May 2021 and May 2026, MEXC Global moved at least $16 billion in funds connected to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity, the release stated. That includes nearly $1.5 billion in transactions linked to Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with U.S., EU and UK-sanctioned entities, the release stated.
The platform also sent or received about $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 identified Iranian cryptocurrency exchangers, and moved about $22 million in transactions for the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Qods Force, the release stated.
The Russian Link, The Sanctioned Exchanges, The Warning
MEXC Global was still processing transactions with the sanctioned Russian entity Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026, more than four years after Garantex was designated by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in April 2022, the release stated. The platform also moved at least $26 million in transactions benefiting the Russia-based A7 sanctions evasion network and processed almost $200 million in transactions connected to the A7A5 stablecoin, the release stated.
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Although the platform says it bars users in Iran and North Korea and claims to maintain anti-money laundering controls, severe deficiencies in those controls let it serve users in prohibited jurisdictions, the release stated.
"Financial institutions cannot have it both ways: Either you support the Iranian regime, or you have access to the U.S. financial system," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the release. "Treasury will continue to sever the Iranian regime's economic lifelines and thwart its desperate attempts to circumvent U.S. sanctions using digital assets."
The Order, The Penalties, The Next Steps
The order was issued under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, the release stated. Violations can bring civil or criminal penalties, and the order takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, the release stated.
The action is part of Operation Economic Outcast, the release stated. The order does not change existing obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act or sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the release stated.
People in the United States or abroad who provide information about sanctions violations to FinCEN's whistleblower program may be eligible for awards if their information leads to a successful enforcement action resulting in monetary penalties of more than $1,000,000, the release stated.
Sources
U.S. Department of the Treasury, "Operation Economic Outcast Severs MEXC Global's Access to the U.S. Financial System," November 6, 2026: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0685/