Treasury cuts MEXC off the US financial system, alleging at least $16 billion in illicit flows including Russian and Iranian sanctions evasion

The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ordered American financial institutions on Friday to stop sending funds to or from MEXC Global, an exchange Treasury counts among the 20 largest in the world. FinCEN issued the order under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act and named MEXC a primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance. It takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Treasury says MEXC handled at least $16 billion in funds tied to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity between May 2021 and May 2026. That includes nearly $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion, $232 million of it in direct transactions with sanctioned entities, and about $1 billion in direct dealings with more than 40 Iranian exchanges. Treasury says MEXC processed transactions with Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026.

Treasury says MEXC claims to run anti-money-laundering controls and to block users in countries including Iran and North Korea, but it found "severe deficiencies" in those controls. The order leaves existing Bank Secrecy Act duties and OFAC sanctions unchanged. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department will continue to "sever the Iranian regime's economic lifelines." None of the reports reviewed carried a response from MEXC.