Treasury Cuts Crypto Exchange MEXC Off From US Financial System

The US Treasury has ordered financial institutions to stop processing transfers to or from crypto exchange MEXC, accusing it of facilitating at least $16 billion in illicit transactions linked to Iran, North Korea and Russia. The move aims to restrict sanctions evasion and cybercrime by cutting the exchange off from the US financial system.

The order, issued by the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. FinCEN says that between May 2021 and May 2026 MEXC handled nearly $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion, including $232 million in direct transactions with sanctioned entities; it also cites dealings involving Russian exchanges Garantex and Grinex, Iran’s central bank and the IRGC. Founded in 2018, MEXC processes more than $1 billion in daily transactions, holds about $5 billion in reserves and lists over 3,000 tokens.