The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, on Friday issued an order that effectively cuts MEXC Global off from the U.S. financial system. The order bars U.S. financial institutions from sending funds to or receiving funds from the cryptocurrency exchange.

Treasury said the action is part of what it calls Operation Economic Outcast. It said MEXC Global, which it described as a convertible virtual currency exchanger, facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions tied to sanctions evasion by Iran, North Korea and Russia, and to cybercrime. Treasury said that included direct dealings with sanctioned actors.

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said financial institutions “cannot have it both ways” when it comes to supporting the Iranian government and keeping access to U.S. finance. He said Treasury will keep working to cut off Iran’s economic lifelines.

According to Treasury, MEXC Global was founded in 2018. As of September 2026, it processed more than $1 billion in daily transactions and held about $5 billion in reserves, Treasury said. The department ranked it among the 20 largest such exchanges in the world.

Treasury said the platform claims to have anti-money laundering and customer verification policies and bans users in places such as Iran and North Korea. It said serious weaknesses in those controls let people and entities in prohibited places use the exchange.

For the period from May 2021 to May 2026, Treasury said the exchange handled nearly $1.5 billion in transactions linked to Russian sanctions evasion. That included $232 million in direct transactions with entities sanctioned by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Treasury said MEXC Global was still processing transactions with the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, and its successor Grinex, as recently as June 2026.

Treasury also said the exchange had about $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 Iranian exchangers. It said the exchange facilitated about $22 million in transactions for the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Qods Force, which are sanctioned.

The order was issued under a section of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. Treasury said it does not change existing Bank Secrecy Act duties, including the filing of suspicious activity reports, or sanctions run by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The order takes effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. Violations may result in civil or criminal penalties, Treasury said.

Treasury’s announcement did not include a response from MEXC Global.

Treasury also noted that people in the United States or abroad who give FinCEN information about sanctions violations may be eligible for awards. The information must lead to a successful enforcement action with penalties above $1 million.

Also on Friday, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned eight Canadian money services businesses that Treasury said help move money into and out of Iran.