The order targeting MEXC Global forms part of Operation Economic Outcast, a U.S. Treasury campaign targeting financial networks supporting Iranian sanctions evasion activities

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FinCEN alleged MEXC Global processed $22 million benefiting Iran's central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force, alongside nearly $200 million connected to the A7A5 stablecoin

As part of Operation Economic Outcast, the U.S. Treasury designated Russia's A7 Network a transnational criminal organization and sanctioned Iranian crypto exchanges Nobitex and BitBank, the latter over alleged transfers to the IRGC

FinCEN designated MEXC Global as a primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance under Section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act

The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Section 9714(a) Combating Russian Money Laundering Act order prohibiting U.S. financial institutions from processing transfers with MEXC Global, effective 30 days after Federal Register publication

FinCEN cited severe deficiencies in MEXC Global's anti-money-laundering controls, noting the exchange processed trades with sanctioned Russian platform Garantex and successor Grinex as recently as June 2026

FinCEN found MEXC Global processed at least $16 billion in illicit transactions between May 2021 and May 2026, including nearly $1.5 billion tied to Russian sanctions evasion

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that financial institutions must choose between supporting the Iranian regime or retaining access to the U.S. financial system

FinCEN alleged that MEXC Global processed approximately $1 billion in direct transfers involving more than 40 Iranian crypto exchanges between May 2021 and May 2026

FinCEN alleged that MEXC Global facilitated approximately $350,000 for sanctioned North Korean money launderer Sim Hyon Sop in 2025

Russia expanded cryptocurrency access under increasing pressure from Western financial sanctions that restricted the country's access to traditional international finance

A number of traditional and fintech entities registered with the Bank of Russia as cryptocurrency service providers are subject to sanctions

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation requested cryptocurrency services and operators to block transactions linked to identified Binance attacker wallet addresses.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued an alert directing THORChain node operators not to process transactions linked to North Korean hacker wallets

The FBI explicitly named THORChain node operators in an official public notice, requesting that node operators block transactions involving addresses tied to the Binance hack

Tether maintains a policy of freezing crypto wallets listed on the U.S. Treasury's sanctions list, raising questions about USDT held through Moscow Exchange's National Clearing Center

On October 31, 2026, the FBI asked THORChain node operators and decentralized finance services to block transactions linked to a roughly $6.3 billion Binance hack that occurred on October 29, 2026

THORChain node operators prolonged a network trading break following an October 31, 2026 Ethereum block reorganization to maintain network solvency rather than to carry out the FBI's blocking request

The FBI omitted Tron blockchain addresses from its list of flagged wallets despite Tron being widely used to move funds stolen in the October 29, 2026 Binance hack

Following the October 29 Binance hack, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit publicly requested THORChain node operators to block TraderTraitor addresses

The WEF and BCG report identifies nine policy dimensions, including legal certainty, asset custody, monetary sovereignty, capital flows, and sanctions compliance.