Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Tuesday that it will no longer process transactions involving rival exchange MEXC and its affiliated entities, days after US regulators designated MEXC a primary money laundering concern. Withdrawals from Binance to MEXC will be declined, while deposits arriving from MEXC will be held for compliance review.

The restrictions were set out in a Binance notice published on 10 November, titled "Important: Transactions with Certain Crypto Platforms". Decrypt reported that Binance told users not to send funds to, receive funds from, or otherwise transact through its platform involving MEXC, MEXC Global, MEXC affiliates or related entities, with the measures taking effect immediately.

Binance also warned that customers receiving funds from the listed entities could face account restrictions or termination of services under its terms of use, and specifically warned against indirect transactions routed through its platform.

What Binance is blocking

The notice covers 13 named entities and categories, including MEXC Global Limited, MEXC Estonia OU, GIDA Technology AG, MXC Global Ltd, MEXC Global Foundation Ltd, MEXC Singapore Pte Ltd and MEXC (Comoros) Ltd, alongside the former name MEX Exchange and a broader reference to MEXC affiliates.

Under the new measures, any request to send funds from a Binance account to one of the listed entities will be declined. Incoming deposits originating from them will be temporarily withheld and subjected to compliance checks. Binance has not said how long those reviews could take or given a timetable for releasing affected deposits.

Binance's restrictions apply immediately under its own notice. They are separate from the timetable of the US order behind them, which only takes effect 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

FinCEN's order against MEXC

The action follows a 6 November order from the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, which 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.

FinCEN alleged that MEXC facilitated at least $16 billion in transactions connected to illicit finance between May 2021 and May 2026, including sanctions evasion, cybercrime and transactions involving sanctioned actors. Crypto.news reported that the total included about $1.5 billion linked to Russian sanctions evasion, and FinCEN said the exchange also processed about $1 billion in direct transactions with more than 40 identified Iranian crypto exchanges.

The order was issued under Section 9714(a) of the Combating Russian Money Laundering Act. It prohibits covered US financial institutions from sending or receiving funds involving MEXC Global, with the definition of funds transfers covering convertible virtual currency as well as other movements of money. The order was published in the Federal Register on 10 November and is scheduled to take effect on 10 December. It has no stated end date, and it is not a listing on the US sanctions list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

MEXC disputes the claims

MEXC has disputed the regulatory allegations and said its trading services, deposits and withdrawals remain operational. Its chief executive, Vugar Usi, said the platform had established communication with FinCEN and planned to cooperate on the matter.

The exchange's response does not change Binance's position. For Binance users, the practical effect is immediate: transfers to MEXC will not go through, and money arriving from MEXC may be held while Binance's compliance team examines where it came from.

The move is the latest sign of compliance pressure spreading across crypto exchanges after a US enforcement action. FinCEN's designation was the first use of a funds-transmittal ban against a major global exchange, and other platforms that touch MEXC-linked flows now face the same choice Binance has made: cut the link, or risk handling funds the US has flagged.