The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ordered U.S. financial institutions to stop sending money to or receiving money from MEXC Global, a cryptocurrency exchange it says moved at least $1.99 billion tied to cybercriminals, Treasury said Friday. Once in force, the order gives banks, payment companies and U.S.-registered crypto platforms a legal duty to cut off what Treasury calls one of the world's 20 largest crypto exchanges.
What Happened
FinCEN acted under Section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, a 2021 law that lets Treasury declare a foreign financial institution a "primary money laundering concern" in connection with Russian illicit finance and restrict its access to the U.S. system. The step is a ban on funds transfers, not a sanctions designation by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The order takes effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register and has no end date.
FinCEN assesses that at least $1.99 billion moving to or from illicit cyber actors passed through MEXC between May 2021 and May 2026, an average of more than $1 million a day, spanning darknet markets, ransomware, scam proceeds and stolen funds. From January 2022 to July 2024, the exchange received more than $37.9 million in suspected ransomware payments, the fees criminals demand to unlock data they have encrypted, with exposure to more than 125 ransomware strains, the order says.
The order also says MEXC handled about $129 million with Garantex, a Russian exchange OFAC sanctioned in April 2022, and $4.1 million with its successor, Grinex, and kept transacting with both as recently as June 2026. Treasury's announcement says MEXC moved at least $16 billion in funds connected to sanctions evasion between May 2021 and May 2026, including nearly $1.5 billion tied to Russian sanctions evasion and about $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 Iranian exchangers. These are Treasury's findings, not a court ruling, and the announcement included no response from MEXC.
Why It Matters
For boards at banks, fintechs and crypto firms, the order turns a risk judgment into a prohibition. Willful violations can bring civil or criminal penalties for institutions and for their officers, directors and employees, according to the order. Existing Bank Secrecy Act duties, such as filing suspicious activity reports, stay in place.
Crypto is the hard part. FinCEN acknowledges that institutions have few practical ways to refuse incoming crypto transfers before they arrive, and the order gives them leeway in handling such funds. FinCEN also warns that MEXC could otherwise reach dollars indirectly through other foreign institutions, so compliance teams should screen for indirect exposure, not only direct customers.
Context
MEXC, founded in 2018, is incorporated in the Seychelles without a license as a virtual asset service provider and operates across more than 170 countries, according to the order. It processed more than $1 billion a day as of June 2026, FinCEN says. The action came a day after Treasury sanctioned dozens of Prince Group shell companies tied to Southeast Asian scam operations, which The Primary Wire reported Thursday.
What to Watch
The 30-day countdown starts when the order appears in the Federal Register. Open questions include how U.S. exchanges and stablecoin issuers will block transfers recorded on public blockchains, and whether OFAC follows with sanctions designations of its own.
