US Treasury's FinCEN Orders Cutoff of MEXC Global From US Financial System, Alleging at Least $16 Billion in Sanctions-Evasion Transactions

November 7 — According to a US Treasury announcement, as part of "Operation Economic Outcast," FinCEN issued an order against crypto exchange MEXC Global under Section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, prohibiting US financial institutions from carrying out any fund transfers with it, thereby cutting it off from the US financial system; the order takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Treasury said that between May 2021 and May 2026, MEXC Global facilitated at least $16 billion in transactions related to sanctions evasion by Iran, North Korea and Russia and to cybercrime, including about $22 million in transactions connected to the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, as well as nearly $1.5 billion related to Russian sanctions evasion.