Binance Blocks All MEXC Transfers After FinCEN Flags Exchange as Money Laundering Concern

Published November 10, 2026, 6:18 PM PKT. Based on Binance's announcement of November 10, 2026, the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network order of November 6, 2026, and reporting from Decrypt and crypto.news, both published November 10, 2026. FinCEN's findings are allegations in a regulatory order. They do not by themselves prove a crime, and the order is not an OFAC sanctions designation.

Binance said on November 10, 2026 it will no longer process transactions involving MEXC Global and its affiliates, four days after the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network designated MEXC a primary money laundering concern. In a notice titled "Important: Transactions with Certain Crypto Platforms", Binance said the restrictions apply immediately, and that users should not send funds to, receive funds from, or otherwise transact through Binance involving MEXC, MEXC Global, MEXC affiliates or related entities.

The move cuts off the world's largest crypto exchange from one of its major rivals. MEXC ranks ninth among spot exchanges on CoinMarketCap, with about $812.5 million in spot volume over the past 24 hours, Decrypt reported, against about $6.4 billion for Binance, which ranks first.

What Binance told its users

Binance listed thirteen names covered by the restriction: MEXC Global Limited, MEXC Estonia OU, GIDA Technology AG, MXC Global Ltd, MEXC Global Foundation Ltd, MEXC Singapore Pte Ltd, MEXC (Comoros) Ltd, MEXC, MEXC Global, MEX Global Ltd, MX Global LTD, MEX Exchange, described as a former name, and MEXC affiliates. The notice said Binance is applying enhanced compliance measures following FinCEN's designation of MEXC as a primary money laundering concern.

Any request to send funds from a Binance account to any of the listed entities will be declined, the notice said. Any deposit received by Binance from any of them will be temporarily withheld and subjected to compliance review, and users may face further restriction under Binance's Terms of Use, including being offboarded from the exchange. During the review, restrictions may also be applied to the impacted account, Binance said, because such activity may also constitute a breach of its Terms of Use.

Binance posted the same warning on X on November 10, 2026, telling users that, effective immediately, they should not send funds to, receive funds from, or otherwise transact through Binance involving MEXC, MEXC Global, MEXC affiliates or related entities.

The $16 billion FinCEN case against MEXC

FinCEN issued its order on November 6, 2026 under Section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, as part of an operation the Treasury called Operation Economic Outcast. The order identified MEXC Global as a financial institution operating outside the United States that is of primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance, and bars covered US financial institutions from processing fund transfers involving the exchange.

FinCEN alleged that MEXC facilitated at least $16 billion in transactions connected to likely illicit activity between May 2021 and May 2026, including sanctions evasion, cybercrime and transactions involving sanctioned actors. That total includes nearly $1.5 billion in direct and indirect exposure to Russian sanctions evasion, according to FinCEN, about $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 identified Iranian crypto exchanges, and about $22 million in transactions involving the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force. FinCEN described MEXC's anti-money laundering controls as severely deficient.

The order's definition of fund transfers covers convertible virtual currency, so the prohibition reaches crypto transfers as well as other movements of money. It has no stated end date, and it is not an OFAC Specially Designated Nationals listing, so it blocks no property by itself and orders no shutdown of MEXC.

The December 10 clock, and why Binance moved now

FinCEN's order was published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2026, and takes effect 30 days after publication, on December 10, 2026. That is the date from which covered US financial institutions must stop transmitting funds to or from MEXC. Binance's restrictions, by contrast, apply immediately and to its own users worldwide, regardless of that federal timetable.

The gap matters because Binance is not a covered US financial institution under the order, so it was not required to act at all. Its decision to impose its own restrictions a month early shows how quickly a FinCEN designation now ripples through the industry, even before the underlying ban takes legal effect. MEXC's users have until December 10 before the US cutoff bites, but the largest exchange in the market has already closed its doors to them.

MEXC says it is operating normally

MEXC said on November 7, 2026 that it is reviewing the FinCEN order with its legal and compliance teams, that its trading services, deposits and withdrawals remain fully operational, and that user assets are secure. The exchange said it has opened constructive communication with FinCEN and other regulators, and launched an independent review of its anti-money laundering and sanctions controls. It has contested no specific FinCEN finding in public, and has named no timeline or conductor for the review.

Binance is not the only exchange to respond. OKX has also warned its users against transferring funds to MEXC, Finance Magnates reported, and MEXC chief executive Vugar Usi has said the platform remains in communication with FinCEN and plans to cooperate comprehensively on the matter.

The next milestone is December 10, when FinCEN's funds-transmittal prohibition takes effect. Until then, the open questions are whether other major exchanges follow Binance, how long Binance holds deposits caught in its compliance review, and what MEXC's independent review finds.

Sources

• Binance, Important: Transactions with Certain Crypto Platforms, published November 10, 2026 (primary source: the thirteen entities covered by the restriction; withdrawals to them will be declined, deposits from them temporarily withheld for compliance review, with possible restriction including offboarding; the notice cites FinCEN's designation of MEXC as a primary money laundering concern)
• US Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN order designating MEXC Global a primary money laundering concern, issued November 6, 2026 (primary source: the Section 9714(a) order under the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act, Operation Economic Outcast; at least $16 billion in transactions connected to likely illicit activity between May 2021 and May 2026; nearly $1.5 billion in Russian sanctions evasion exposure; about $1 billion with more than 40 Iranian crypto exchanges; about $22 million involving the Central Bank of Iran and the IRGC Qods Force)
• Decrypt, Binance Halts MEXC Transfers as FinCEN Cuts Exchange Off From US Financial System, published November 10, 2026 (secondary reporting: Binance's X post of November 10; the thirteen entities; MEXC ranks ninth among spot exchanges on CoinMarketCap with about $812.5 million in 24-hour spot volume against Binance's about $6.4 billion; OKX has also warned users against transferring funds to MEXC)
• crypto.news, Binance blocks MEXC transfers after FinCEN's $16B crackdown, published November 10, 2026 (secondary reporting: withdrawals to MEXC rejected, incoming deposits withheld for compliance review; users receiving funds from the affected entities could face account restrictions or termination; MEXC has disputed the regulatory allegations and says its services remain operational)

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.