US Treasury orders US banks to stop moving money for MEXC over $16 billion in alleged illicit flows

The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final order under section 9714(a) against MEXC Global. Starting 30 days after the order appears in the Federal Register, US financial institutions may not send funds to the exchange or receive funds from it, Bitcoin Magazine reported. The order alleges about $16 billion in illicit flows. Citing Reuters, the BWE News feed reported that Treasury tied the exchange's transactions to sanctions evasion by Iran, North Korea and Russia. Cointelegraph and Watcher Guru carried the same Reuters account. None of the sources reviewed for this article included a response from MEXC.

Section 9714 has been used against crypto venues before, but only smaller exchangers focused on Russia. FinCEN first used it against Bitzlato in January 2023 and named that exchange a primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance. In October 2024 it issued a similar order against PM2BTC. MEXC is a different kind of target: an exchange marketed to retail traders worldwide. The order does not reach MEXC's internal ledger. It reaches every US-regulated institution that touches MEXC, including banks and money transmitters, and those include the US-registered crypto companies that convert tokens to bank dollars.

Thai regulators added pressure on offshore exchanges the same day. Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a criminal complaint against BG Limited, the operator of Bitget, for running an unlicensed exchange for Thai users from 2022 to 2025, Bitcoin Magazine reported. Thailand plans to block access to the exchange on December 5. CoinDesk reported that the complaint leaves Bitget's planned acquisition of a licensed local business uncertain.