Verify a decision

{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"15ff033c-ce4e-45ca-ae7c-abeffa2066b7","kind":"publish","page_slug":"mexc","published_at":"2026-05-18T23:35:03.279Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"MEXC","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"MEXC is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2018, incorporated in Seychelles, that has accumulated a significant regulatory record across multiple jurisdictions including warnings or cease orders from authorities in Hong Kong, Germany, Belgium, Japan, Estonia, and South Korea. The exchange gained widespread notoriety in late 2025 after on-chain investigator ZachXBT amplified user reports of frozen funds, including a high-profile case in which a trader known as 'The White Whale' had approximately $3 million frozen without adequate explanation, eventually prompting a public apology from the exchange's Chief Strategy Officer. MEXC's parent entity MEXC Global Ltd was struck off by the Seychelles registry in August 2023, dissolved in December 2024, and never obtained a license under the Seychelles VASP Act 2024, leaving its current operational and legal standing opaque.","timeline":[{"date":"2018-01-01","event":"MEXC exchange founded, later rebranded from MXC Exchange to MEXC Global.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.mexc.com/about"},{"date":"2020-02-18","event":"MEXC Global Ltd incorporated as an International Business Company in Seychelles.","source":"","source_url":"https://fsaseychelles.sc/media-corner/regulatory-updates/public-statement-mexc-global-limited"},{"date":"2023-08-17","event":"MEXC Global Ltd struck off the Seychelles registry.","source":"","source_url":"https://fsaseychelles.sc/media-corner/regulatory-updates/public-statement-mexc-global-limited"},{"date":"2023-10-01","event":"Germany's BaFin issues consumer warning that MEXC is providing unauthorized crypto custody services in Germany.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.coinlive.com/news/germany-s-bafin-issues-warning-to-mexc-exchange-for-unauthorized-financial"},{"date":"2023-11-17","event":"Estonia's Financial Intelligence Unit revokes the license of MEXC Estonia OÜ, citing money laundering concerns. MEXC files a legal appeal.","source":"","source_url":"https://fintelegram.com/breaking-mexc-estonia-lost-crypto-license-over-money-laundering-issues/"},{"date":"2024-03-15","event":"Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission adds MEXC to its Suspicious Virtual Asset Trading Platforms Alert List for operating without a VATP license.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/03/15/hong-kong-regulator-says-crypto-exchange-mexc-has-been-operating-without-a-license"},{"date":"2024-07-23","event":"Belgium's FSMA orders MEXC Global Ltd to cease all custodian wallet services and cease distribution of virtual-asset-linked financial products to Belgian retail clients.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.fsma.be/en/news/mexc-global-ltd-wwwmexccom-order"},{"date":"2024-12-18","event":"MEXC Global Ltd automatically dissolved in Seychelles. The entity never applied for a license under the Seychelles VASP Act 2024.","source":"","source_url":"https://fsaseychelles.sc/media-corner/regulatory-updates/public-statement-mexc-global-limited"},{"date":"2025-04-11","event":"South Korea's FIU directs Apple to block MEXC's app from the Korean App Store; Google Play also delists MEXC in South Korea for failure to register as a VASP.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/04/14/kucoin-mexc-and-12-crypto-exchanges-apple-apps-blocked-in-south-korea"},{"date":"2025-05-30","event":"Seychelles FSA issues public statement confirming MEXC Global Ltd was struck off, dissolved, and never licensed under the VASP Act 2024.","source":"","source_url":"https://fsaseychelles.sc/media-corner/regulatory-updates/public-statement-mexc-global-limited"},{"date":"2025-07-01","event":"MEXC freezes the account of trader 'The White Whale,' citing alleged automated trading violations. Approximately $3.1 million is inaccessible.","source":"","source_url":"https://beincrypto.com/mexc-apologizes-white-whale-3-million-dispute/"},{"date":"2025-10-30","event":"ZachXBT publicly amplifies The White Whale's frozen fund case; Bitcoin withdrawals from MEXC surge from approximately 40 to over 1,200 per day.","source":"","source_url":"https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fucked-mexc-exec-promises-changes-213450173.html"},{"date":"2025-11-01","event":"MEXC Chief Strategy Officer Cecilia Hsueh issues public apology, acknowledges operational failures, and returns over $3 million in frozen funds to The White Whale.","source":"","source_url":"https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mexc-issues-public-apology-white-222146173.html"},{"date":"2025-12-20","event":"MEXC faces renewed scrutiny over premarket scam allegations, including cases where seller defaults were not compensated per MEXC's own collateral rules.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2025/12/20/mexc-once-again-faces-scrutiny-on-premarket-scams-allegations/"}]},"v":1}