U.S. Treasury Bars Financial Institutions from Transacting with MEXC Over Illicit Flow Allegations

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has ordered U.S. institutions to halt transactions with the MEXC crypto exchange following allegations of $16 billion in illicit financial activity.

Treasury billed the move as part of its campaign against Iran, but the order rests on MEXC's alleged role in Russian illicit finance. FinCEN ordered US financial institutions to cease processing transfers to or from MEXC Global on November 6. According to the agency, the offshore crypto exchange conducted up to $16.7 billion in potentially illicit transactions.

FinCEN’s order, part of Operation Economic Outcast, bars U.S. institutions from any transfers to or from MEXC, which Treasury says facilitated $16 billion in illicit finance tied to Iran, North Korea and Russia. The US Treasury bureau FinCEN on Friday ordered US financial institutions to stop processing transfers involving MEXC Global.

CoinDesk reported the story as "U.S. Treasury moves to cut off crypto exchange MEXC over $16 billion in alleged illicit flows."

5 sources have covered this story, including CoinDesk, Cryptopolitan, Bitcoin Magazine and Decrypt and 1 other outlet. The earliest reporting in the cluster landed about 22 hours ago.

Source accounts have not fully aligned on every figure tied to this story (different reports cite 16 billion, 16); the published L1FE summary holds those specifics open until more sources converge.