MEXC excluded from US financial system after $16 billion in illicit transactions

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The US Treasury has decided to cut MEXC off from the US financial system. The exchange, one of the 20 largest in the world, is accused of having facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions linked in particular to Russia, Iran and North Korea.

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FinCEN, the American agency responsible for combating money laundering, issued an order on Friday, November 6, prohibiting American financial institutions from sending or receiving funds from MEXC, including cryptocurrencies.

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The measure will come into force 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register, the official American journal. It also concerns MEXC subsidiaries in Seychelles, Estonia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Unlike a sanction from OFAC, the American agency responsible for financial sanctions, this decision does not directly result in the freezing of client assets.

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According to the Treasury, the suspicious transactions were carried out between May 2021 and May 2026. Nearly $1.5 billion is believed to be linked to the circumvention of sanctions against Russia.

MEXC would have notably continued to process transactions with Garantex, a Russian exchange sanctioned since April 2022, and its successor Grinex, until June 2026.

FinCEN also notes nearly $1 billion in transactions with more than 40 Iranian platforms, some of which are sanctioned. Around $22 million would have benefited the Iranian central bank and the Revolutionary Guards.

Machine-translated from French