Treasury cuts off MEXC Global over alleged $16 billion in transactions linked to Iran, North Korea and Russia

The U.S. Treasury Department says it has severed crypto exchange MEXC Global from the United States after it allegedly supported $16 billion in transactions connected to Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

On Friday, the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an order against MEXC Global and said it was a money laundering concern.

"Financial institutions cannot have it both ways: Either you support the Iranian regime, or you have access to the U.S. financial system," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement. "Treasury will continue to sever the Iranian regime’s economic lifelines and thwart its desperate attempts to circumvent U.S. sanctions using digital assets."

Over the past year, Treasury has implemented a crackdown of sorts on crypto platforms allegedly helping Iran evade sanctions amid its ongoing war against the country. In June, Iran's largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, was sanctioned after Treasury said it processed more than half of Iran's crypto inflows in 2025. In September, the U.S. also sanctioned Iranian crypto exchange BitBank over alleged bitcoin transfers to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

On Friday, Treasury said that though MEXC Global said it maintained anti-money laundering and says it will block the use of people using it in countries including Iran and North Korea, that it had "severe deficiencies" in those AML controls. The department said Friday's sanction will protect the U.S. financial system.

"Today's action will protect the U.S. financial system from the significant illicit finance threats posed by MEXC Global," the department said.