EL7.AI
CryptoMedium•10 November 2026•
4 min read

$16.7 Billion in Illicit Transactions Prompt Binance to Halt Transfers With MEXC

Key Facts

1Binance announced on November 10 that it would stop processing transactions involving MEXC and the listed entities.
2FinCEN put funds linked to Russian illicit finance and other activity at $16.7 billion between May 2021 and May 2026.
3The Treasury Department said MEXC processed more than $1 billion daily and held about $5 billion in reserves in September 2026.
4FinCEN’s order takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Binance announced on November 10 that it would not process through its platform transactions involving MEXC Global and the entities and platforms covered by an order from the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN. The platform said requests to send funds from its accounts to those entities would be rejected, while funds received from them would be temporarily held for compliance review. Users may face additional restrictions, potentially including termination of their relationship with Binance, under its terms of use. The platform urged users not to send funds to or receive funds from the listed entities, directly or indirectly through Binance. The announcement comes as the U.S. Treasury Department says MEXC facilitated the transfer of $16.7 billion in funds linked to Russian illicit finance and other illicit activity between May 2021 and May 2026.

Binance’s announcement covers MEXC Global Limited, MEXC Estonia OÜ, GIDA Technology AG and MEXC Singapore Pte Ltd, as well as MEXC affiliates. The Treasury Department says FinCEN issued its order on November 6 as part of “Operation Economic Denial,” to effectively cut MEXC Global off from the U.S. financial system. The order prohibits U.S. financial institutions from processing money transfers involving MEXC Global. Its scope differs from Binance’s restrictions, which apply to transactions conducted through its platform with the specified entities. FinCEN’s definition also excludes MEXC Global’s branches, affiliates and offices located in the United States, and includes its entities operating outside the country.

FinCEN’s order puts the total funds linked to Russian illicit finance and other activity at $16.7 billion from May 2021 to May 2026, including sanctions evasion and cybercrime. The Treasury Department said the transactions included about $1.5 billion linked to evading Russian sanctions, of which $232 million involved direct dealings with entities subject to U.S., European or British sanctions. It also said MEXC facilitated at least $26 million in transactions for Russia’s sanctioned A7 network and processed nearly $200 million linked to the A7A5 stablecoin. The department said transactions with Russia’s sanctioned Garantex platform and its successor, Grinex, continued through June 2026. More than 4 years had passed since Garantex was added to U.S. sanctions lists in April 2022.

Regarding Iran, the Treasury Department said MEXC sent or received about $1 billion through direct transactions with more than 40 Iranian virtual-currency exchanges identified by authorities. It added that the platform facilitated about $22 million in transactions for Iran’s central bank, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Quds Force, entities subject to U.S., European or British sanctions, according to the department’s statement. FinCEN’s order estimated that MEXC’s Iran-related transactions exceeded $1.87 billion, including more than $1 billion in direct dealings with Iranian virtual-currency exchanges. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said financial institutions cannot support the Iranian regime while retaining access to the U.S. financial system. He said, “Financial institutions cannot have it both ways: either support the Iranian regime or access the U.S. financial system.”

The measures come as official U.S. estimates indicate that MEXC was a large platform in terms of activity and scale. The Treasury Department said it processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions and held about $5 billion in reserves as of September 2026. In a separate estimate dating to June 2026, FinCEN’s order put the platform’s daily processing at more than $1 billion and its reserve assets at about $5 billion. The network also estimated that MEXC accounted for about 9% of the global market for centralized virtual-currency trading platforms by trading volume in December 2025. FinCEN’s order takes effect 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register, while Binance’s announcement did not specify a later start date for its restrictions on transactions through its platform.