Overview
- FinCEN issued the order on Nov. 6 naming MEXC a primary money‑laundering concern and saying the exchange handled roughly $16 billion in flagged transactions tied to sanctions evasion and cybercrime.
- OKX has started holding and reviewing deposits that originate from MEXC and warned customers not to send funds directly from MEXC because transfers may be frozen while checked.
- MEXC says its trading and custody services remain operational, that customer assets are secure, and that it has launched an independent review of its anti‑money‑laundering and sanctions controls while engaging analytics firms.
- FinCEN’s filing breaks down implicated flows with about $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion, roughly $232 million involving direct dealings with sanctioned entities, more than $26 million tied to the A7 network, and other flows linked to Iranian and North Korean facilitators.
- Precautionary moves by exchanges and brokers are creating deposit delays and frozen transfers for ordinary users and could prompt wider compliance steps by U.S. banks and broker‑dealers once the rule takes effect, which could constrict MEXC’s access to U.S. dollar rails.