Under Operation Economic Outcast, the US Treasury's FinCEN issued an order barring US financial institutions from processing transfers involving MEXC Global. The order was issued under section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act and takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Between May 2021 and May 2026, MEXC facilitated at least $16B in transactions tied to sanctions evasion, cybercrime and other illicit activity.

That includes nearly $1.5B linked to Russian sanctions evasion, $232M in direct transactions with US, EU and UK sanctioned entities, about $1B with more than 40 Iranian crypto exchangers, and roughly $22M for the Central Bank of Iran and the IRGC Qods Force. Treasury says MEXC was still transacting with Garantex and its successor Grinex as recently as June 2026.

Founded in 2018, MEXC is one of the 20 largest crypto exchanges globally, with more than $1B in daily volume and about $5B in reserves as of September 2026. Violations of the order may lead to civil or criminal penalties for US institutions.