MEXC Global founder Vugar Usi has indicated that the crypto exchange is ready to fight to avert the blacklisting the exchange faces in the United States.
The one-month countdown to the US cutoff began when the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a November 6 order under Section 9714 of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. The 30-day clock starts on the date the order is published in the Federal Register.
How MEXC is responding to the FinCEN order
Usi is using the 30-day window to open negotiations with the US agency. In a post on X, he said MEXC had established a channel with FinCEN “through the support of top-tier U.S. law firms” and that the agency confirmed receiving the exchange’s written request yesterday morning, US time.
“We are ready to fully cooperate,” Usi wrote, adding that the platform “continues to operate normally.”
MEXC’s corporate account had made a similar statement days earlier, saying it was reviewing the November 6 order with its legal and compliance teams and that users’ assets remained secure. The exchange also launched an independent review of its anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls.
What is the Section 9714 order?
Section 9714 is an authority FinCEN can use to single out foreign firms it deems a “primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance.” By invoking the order, the agency can prevent those firms from sending funds to or receiving funds from US institutions.
FinCEN rarely invokes Section 9714. Before MEXC, it had designated only two firms: Bitzlato and PM2BTC, in January 2023 and September 2024, respectively. Neither target was close to the scale of the MEXC exchange.
The FinCEN order said the exchange handled more than $1 billion in daily transaction volume and held about $5 billion in reserves as of June 2026. According to CoinMarketCap data, the exchange recorded nearly $810 million in the past 24 hours.
Why FinCEN is targeting MEXC
FinCEN is targeting the exchange over a period running from May 2021 to May 2026, as Cryptopolitan reported. The agency alleges that MEXC processed roughly $1.5 billion connected to Russian sanctions evasion during a five-year period in which it handled around $16.7 billion in transactions involving illicit activity.
The exchange was also implicated because of its links to the Russian state-backed payments network, A7, which also issues the A7A5 ruble-pegged stablecoin. Cryptopolitan reported in early October that the US Treasury had designated A7 a significant transnational criminal organization.
The FinCEN order bars US institutions from sending funds to or receiving funds from MEXC. It does not cover firms registered outside the US, and MEXC’s non-US business is not expected to be affected.
OKX founder Star Xu has already warned users against transferring funds directly from MEXC to OKX after users complained that USDT deposits were flagged and frozen. Binance has also said it will stop processing transfers involving the exchange.
Source: www.cryptopolitan.com. Adapted by NBTC.
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