Treasury Moves to Cut Off MEXC as Bitcoin ETFs Turn Negative for 2026

Treasury says it has severed MEXC Global from the U.S. after the exchange allegedly supported $16 billion in transactions linked to Iran, North Korea and Russia The Block; CoinDesk characterises the step as a move to cut off the exchange over alleged illicit flows CoinDesk. Access cutoffs of this kind can prompt market makers, payment processors and institutional counterparties to reassess exposure to the affected venue. Where that happens, liquidity on the venue can thin and volume can migrate elsewhere, which makes counterparty responses the variable to monitor.

Bitcoin ETFs flipped negative for the year after a $1.28 billion outflow week, the worst since June, with BlackRock's IBIT accounting for 98% of Friday's outflows as $403 million left the fund The Block. BTC was little changed at $75,795 (+0.11%) over 24h but is -2.27% on the week. The source gives no reason for the redemptions; concentration in the largest and most liquid vehicle may reflect de-risking by institutional allocators, who typically exit through the deepest product first.

The Treasury Department has withdrawn a controversial proposal that would have expanded requirements for cryptocurrency transactions The Block. The withdrawal avoids an additional layer of reporting obligations for regulated exchanges and custodians rather than lowering existing ones. Read alongside the MEXC action The Block, the week's pattern is consistent with venue-specific enforcement over broader transaction-level rules, though Treasury has not framed the two moves together.

A rule that would open 401(k) retirement accounts to alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies, has landed at the White House The Block. Retirement plans are a slow-moving pool of capital: even with a final rule, access would depend on plan sponsors and providers choosing to offer exposure, so any flow effect would likely build gradually. The development lands in the same week ETF holders were net sellers The Block.

Gnosis Pay disclosed unauthorized access to its legacy debit card system on Nov. 3 and says customer funds were not affected The Block. CoinDesk reports the exposed data includes card numbers, home addresses and linked crypto wallets CoinDesk. Linking wallet addresses to real-world identities and locations can create phishing and physical-security risk for affected users even where balances are intact.

CoinDesk reports that Apple and Meta rejected OKX–ICE tokenized stock plans, and says this leaves crypto firms as the ones to watch CoinDesk. The episode underlines that tokenized-equity products can depend on the cooperation of the underlying issuers, a constraint that sits outside the control of the platforms building them.