The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final order barring U.S. financial institutions from transmitting funds to or from MEXC Global, effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The U.S. Treasury alleged that the exchange facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit finance connected to Iran, North Korea, and Russia. MEXC stated that customer withdrawals remain operational and that it has initiated an independent review of its anti-money laundering and sanctions controls.
The action represents a structural escalation from entity-specific civil penalties to a jurisdictional cutoff from U.S. correspondent banking, compelling institutional counterparties, custody providers, and payment intermediaries to evaluate counterparty exposure ahead of the deadline. This underscores the growing bifurcation between fully compliant fiat-intermediated venues and offshore liquidity pools, although the supplied material does not clarify the extent of MEXC's remaining institutional trading volume or whether international regulators will implement coordinated restrictions.
U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds recorded combined net outflows of approximately $530 million on Thursday, led by $430 million in withdrawals from Bitcoin funds and $99.9 million from Ether funds, coinciding with Bitcoin trading at $75,777 and Ether at $2,236.46. Derivative liquidations across digital-asset markets exceeded $1 billion during the broader technology-equity downturn, demonstrating persistent exposure to macro risk sentiment and leverage unwinds, though the data do not distinguish structural capital reallocation from tactical de-risking.
A final U.S. Department of Labor regulation establishing a process-based fiduciary safe harbor for alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies, private equity, and real estate in 401(k) retirement plans, arrived at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for final review. If published, the framework would provide plan sponsors with an administrative pathway to incorporate digital assets into defined-contribution menus, though adoption remains contingent on individual plan fiduciary discretion, investment product structuring, and administrative risk controls.
The Bank of Russia finalized regulatory rules permitting retail investors to trade Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT through licensed financial intermediaries starting Nov. 17, with Moscow Exchange targeting a launch in December. Under the framework, non-qualified investors must pass suitability testing and face an annual purchase cap of 300,000 rubles per intermediary, creating a formal domestic trading channel while restricting aggregate retail liquidity.