The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network today labeled a convertible virtual currency exchange as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern, effectively severing its ties to the U.S. financial system.
MEXC Global, which is headquartered in Seychelles, has facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions connected to Iranian, North Korean and Russian sanctions evasion, as well as cybercrime, the Treasury Department said in a press release. FinCEN’s order prevents U.S. financial institutions from processing funds transfers involving MEXC Global.
“Financial institutions cannot have it both ways: Either you support the Iranian regime, or you have access to the U.S. financial system,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said. “Treasury will continue to sever the Iranian regime’s economic lifelines and thwart its desperate attempts to circumvent U.S. sanctions using digital assets.”
