MEXC Suspends Global Card Services After $16.7 Billion in Suspicious Transfers Detected

Key Facts

MEXC announced it would suspend transactions on its global cards and card deposits during maintenance beginning November 14, 2026, at 23:30 UTC+8 and ending on November 18. The company said all card transactions and deposits would be declined during this window, attributing the measure to service adjustments by its external card issuer. The announcement follows a statement by the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network that the platform facilitated the movement of $16.7 billion between May 2021 and May 2026, linked to illicit Russian finance and other activities, including sanctions evasion and cybercrime. The suspension applies to MEXC Global cards, while the agency’s order targets covered financial institutions’ transfers to and from the platform. The U.S. order is set to take effect in December, while other trading platforms have imposed restrictions on transactions linked to MEXC.

MEXC set the maintenance window at four days, from the evening of November 14 in UTC+8 through November 18, 2026. It said users’ balances would remain safe and unaffected, and cardholders with a remaining balance could transfer it to their cash accounts using the withdrawal function on the card page. It also said customers would continue to have access to card services to view transaction history, orders, cashback rewards and other related information. Refunds during the maintenance period will be credited to card accounts, it added. Pending settlements will continue under the usual procedures, according to the company’s notice.

FinCEN’s order distinguishes its impact on covered financial institutions from the platform’s other services: it bars those institutions from sending money to or receiving money from MEXC Global. The order defines transfers to include sending and receiving funds, including convertible virtual currency. The agency estimated direct and indirect exposure to transactions linked to Russian sanctions evasion at about $1.5 billion between May 2021 and May 2026. It also said at least $1.99 billion in funds from or to cybercriminal entities passed through the platform during the same period, averaging more than $1 million a day. These estimates show the scope of the allegations in the U.S. action, which does not announce a global shutdown of MEXC.

FinCEN’s estimates also included nearly $2 billion in transfers linked to designated Iranian entities or known or suspected terrorist groups between May 2021 and May 2026, including about $1.87 billion in Iran-related transactions. The Federal Register said MEXC’s direct transactions with entities subject to U.S., European or British sanctions totaled $232 million during the period under review. The order estimated that the platform facilitated about $129 million in direct activity with Garantex and $4.1 million with Grinex after the two entities were added to sanctions lists, and said dealings with them continued through June 2026. In the cybercrime case, FinCEN estimated that the platform received more than $37.9 million in suspected ransomware payments between January 2022 and July 2024, with exposure to more than 125 ransomware variants. The Treasury Department says MEXC processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions and held about $5 billion in reserves in September 2026, and ranked among the top 20 platforms for trading volume in convertible virtual currency.

The effects of restrictions began to appear on other platforms before FinCEN’s order takes effect. Binance announced on November 10, 2026, that it would reject requests to send funds from its accounts to the designated entities, and that incoming deposits from them could be temporarily held for compliance review. Paribu announced it would begin restrictions on deposits and withdrawals linked to MEXC Global on November 13. On November 7, MEXC said it was reviewing the November 6 FinCEN order in coordination with its legal and compliance teams and had begun an independent review of its anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls. The U.S. order said it would take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register on November 10, 2026, or on December 10, with no specified end date. While the maintenance notice is limited to cards, the U.S. restrictions cover transfers by covered financial institutions to and from MEXC.