The key facts

  • FinCEN banned American financial institutions from transactions with MEXC Global
  • The reason is sanctions evasion operations and $16 billion in suspicious transactions over five years
  • The order takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register

What happened

The US Treasury Department has effectively cut the crypto exchange MEXC Global off from the American financial system. The announcement was made by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Treasury; the corresponding press release has been published on the agency's website.

Grounds and timing

Among the reasons for the restrictive measures, the US Treasury cites operations related to sanctions evasion. According to its data, at least $16 billion in suspicious transactions passed through MEXC over five years. The order takes effect 30 days after official publication in the US Federal Register and prohibits American financial institutions from any transactions and transfers with MEXC. In practical terms, this means that once the ban takes effect, the exchange loses the ability to settle payments through banks and payment structures under US jurisdiction — this is precisely the channel that the order cuts off.

Context

MEXC Global was founded in 2018 and ranks among the twenty largest global platforms for trading digital assets. The decision against the exchange comes amid heightened concerns about crypto infrastructure security: on the night of October 30 the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance suffered a record-breaking hack, with about $6.3 billion in various cryptocurrencies drained from it — the largest theft of digital assets in history. It was also previously reported that Russians were cut off from access to one of the top crypto platforms.