FinCEN says MEXC Global facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions between May 2021 and May 2026, tied to Iranian, North…

FinCEN says MEXC Global facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions between May 2021 and May 2026, tied to Iranian, North Korean, and Russian sanctions evasion plus cybercrime. Treasury has now issued an order barring U.S. financial institutions from processing any funds transfers involving the exchange.

The details are what got me. Treasury alleges roughly $1.5 billion tied to Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with sanctioned entities, plus nearly $200 million connected to the A7A5 token.

It says MEXC was still processing transactions with Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026, more than four years after Garantex's OFAC designation. On the Iran side, Treasury cites about $1 billion with more than 40 Iranian crypto exchangers, and about $22 million for the Central Bank of Iran and the IRGC and its Qods Force.

By Treasury's numbers, this is an exchange that, as of September, processed more than $1 billion a day and held about $5 billion in reserves, one of the top 20 in the world. Scale like that makes "we didn't see it" a hard argument to sell.

MEXC says the platform is operating normally, user assets are secure, and it has started an independent AML and sanctions-controls review. The order takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, so the cutoff isn't live yet.

My read: Bessent's line that institutions "cannot have it both ways" is aimed well beyond MEXC, and I'd expect compliance teams at other large offshore exchanges to be reading this order very closely right now.

Sources:
U.S. Treasury Department: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0685
Bitcoin.com News: https://news.bitcoin.com/regulation-and-legal/us-treasury-blacklists-mexc-16b-alleged-illicit-crypto-activity/

Not financial advice. For informational and educational purposes only.