The U.S. Treasury Department has moved to shut one of the world\u2019s largest crypto exchanges out of the American financial system. On Friday, the department\u2019s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) <\/span>issued an orde<\/span><\/a>r barring U.S. financial institutions from processing <\/span>any funds transfers to or from MEXC Global<\/b>. Treasury accuses the exchange of handling <\/span>at least $16 billion<\/b> in illicit money tied to Iran, North Korea and Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n The ban takes effect <\/span>30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register<\/b>. After that, any U.S. institution that keeps moving money for the exchange could face civil or criminal penalties.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Financial institutions cannot have it both ways: Either you support the Iranian regime, or you have access to the U.S. financial system,<\/span><\/i>\u201d Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. He added that Treasury would keep cutting off the regime\u2019s economic lifelines and blocking its attempts to use digital assets to get around sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n Treasury Cuts MEXC Off From U.S. Banks Over $16B in Illicit Flows<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n MEXC is no fringe platform. Founded in 2018, it ranks among the <\/span>20 largest crypto exchanges in the world<\/b>. According to FinCEN, it processes more than <\/span>$1 billion in trades a day<\/b>, holds about <\/span>$5 billion in reserves<\/b> and lists more than 3,000 tokens. The order also notes that the exchange is registered in the Seychelles, holds no virtual asset service provider license, operates in more than 170 countries, and accounted for roughly 9% of the global centralized crypto exchange market as of December 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n FinCEN says at least $16 billion connected to illicit activity moved through the platform between May 2021 and May 2026. The 24-page order puts the precise figure at about <\/span>$16.7 billion<\/b>. The breakdown shows how widely the exposure spread:<\/span><\/p>\n The order also cites more than $13 billion in transactions with at least four high-risk exchangers sanctioned by the U.K.<\/span><\/p>\n The most damaging detail may involve Garantex, the Russian exchange the U.S. sanctioned in 2022. FinCEN says MEXC was still trading with Garantex and its successor, Grinex, <\/span>as recently as June 2026<\/b>, more than four years after the first designation. On that basis, the agency named MEXC a <\/span>\u201cprimary money laundering concern\u201d<\/b> in connection with Russian illicit finance.<\/span><\/p>\n On paper, MEXC had anti-money-laundering rules and barred users from places like Iran and North Korea. FinCEN says that in practice, its compliance program suffered from \u201csevere deficiencies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The order does not come through the Office of Foreign Assets Control\u2019s sanctions list. Instead, FinCEN issued it under <\/span>section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act<\/b>. The difference matters. The measure cuts off U.S. institutions from transfers involving MEXC, but it is not a worldwide asset freeze, and MEXC is not automatically sanctioned globally.<\/span><\/p>\n FinCEN has increasingly turned to this authority to target crypto platforms that sit outside the traditional correspondent banking system, where conventional sanctions often have less bite. It used the same provision against the Russian exchanger PM2BTC in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n The action falls under <\/span>Operation Economic Outcast<\/b>, a whole-of-Treasury effort launched on August 24, 2026, to sever Iran\u2019s global financial, trade and logistics connections. MEXC\u2019s ties to Garantex, Grinex and A7A5 place it inside a sanctions-evasion network that Treasury has been taking apart piece by piece.<\/span><\/p>\n Last month, Treasury designated Russia\u2019s A7 Network a transnational criminal organization and proposed cutting its front companies off from U.S. finance. It flagged <\/span>more than $179 billion<\/b> in transactions through the A7A5 token, much of it routed through Garantex and Grinex. The campaign has also reached Iran\u2019s crypto sector, where Treasury gained broad authority to sanction anyone operating in it and blacklisted the Iranian exchange Nobitex for funneling crypto to the IRGC. Alongside the MEXC order, Treasury also sanctioned <\/span>eight Canadian companies<\/b> it says helped Iran, Russia and North Korea evade sanctions and move funds linked to cybercrime and drug trafficking.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Treasury](\"https:\/\/nftplazas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2-3-1024x576.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat FinCEN says it found<\/b><\/h2>\n
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A different tool, not a standard sanction<\/b><\/h2>\n
One piece of a wider campaign<\/b><\/h2>\n