The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) moved to bar covered U.S. financial institutions from sending funds, including convertible virtual currency, to or receiving funds from MEXC under Section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. Issued Nov. 6, 2026, the order alleges that MEXC facilitated at least $16 billion in transactions tied to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity involving Iran, North Korea and Russia; an earlier account put the total at approximately $16.7 billion. The measure takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, has no scheduled expiration date and does not automatically freeze customer assets. Treasury announced the action under Operation Economic Outcast, its campaign launched in August to isolate Iran from global finance, although Section 9714 can only be used against foreign institutions connected to Russian illicit finance. FinCEN alleged that MEXC processed nearly $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion from May 2021 through May 2026, including dealings involving sanctioned exchange Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June. The agency also identified about $1 billion in alleged direct transfers to more than 40 Iranian crypto exchanges and $22 million linked to Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. MEXC, one of the world’s 20 largest crypto exchanges as of September, said it is reviewing the order, continues to operate normally and has begun an independent review of its anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls. Chief executive officer Vugar Usi said deposits and withdrawals remained operational and orderly despite higher withdrawal volumes, with customer assets secure. MEXC said Elliptic restored MEXC Global to its regular exchange category and removed a prior special-risk designation after discussions. The exchange announced last month that it would stop serving users in Russia and Belarus.