Crypto
FinCEN Cut Off MEXC Over $16B in Alleged Illicit Flows
FinCEN ordered US financial institutions on November 6 to stop all transfers to and from crypto exchange MEXC, citing at least $16 billion in illicit flows.
One of the world's 20 largest crypto exchanges has been cut off from the US financial system. On Friday, November 6, the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ordered US financial institutions to stop processing any transmittal of funds to or from MEXC Global, including transfers in crypto, finding it to be of "primary money laundering concern" in connection with Russian illicit finance. The order takes effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register, has no end date and also covers affiliates in the Seychelles, Estonia, Switzerland and the UK.
FinCEN's case rests on volume. It says at least $16 billion of illicit activity moved through the platform between May 2021 and May 2026; the order itself cites at least $16.7 billion. The categories overlap and use different periods, so they do not add up, but they include more than $13 billion with exchangers now sanctioned by the UK, about $2.9 billion with exchangers said to skip identity checks, nearly $2 billion tied to Iranian actors and terrorist groups and nearly $1.5 billion of Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with sanctioned entities and dealings with Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026.
The legal tool matters. Rather than an OFAC sanctions designation or a Section 311 action, FinCEN used Section 9714 of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, the authority it applied to Bitzlato in 2023, PM2BTC in 2024 and Russia's A7 network on October 1. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the move around Iran, saying financial institutions cannot have it both ways between supporting the Iranian regime and keeping access to the US financial system. The order does not freeze customer balances or require MEXC to shut down elsewhere.
MEXC says it is operating normally, that user assets are secure and that it has started an independent review of its anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls. FinCEN describes the exchange as processing more than $1 billion a day, holding about $5 billion in reserves and listing more than 3,000 tokens. The value of MEXC wallets tracked by DefiLlama fell to about $4.46 billion late on Friday from about $4.58 billion a day earlier, a modest move that also reflects token prices.
The same day, FinCEN and the Federal Reserve withdrew a 2020 proposal that would have cut the reporting threshold for cross-border transfers, including crypto, from $3,000 to $250, saying the industry had changed since it was written. Read together, the two decisions show the direction of US policy: less blanket reporting for ordinary users, more targeted pressure on venues accused of moving money for sanctioned states. For anyone holding funds on an offshore exchange, the practical lesson is that access through US banks and payment firms can disappear with 30 days' notice.