MEXC to Shut Services in Russia and Belarus as Compliance Rules Tighten

Cryptocurrency exchange platform MEXC has announced that it is discontinuing its services for customers from Russia and Belarus and that each customer will be provided with instructions for exiting and withdrawing funds from their account. On October 20, MEXC announced that its move was due to its global compliance policies and that users who have not been notified can still trade under their current terms of service. There has been no set public deadline for completing the withdrawals or unwinding of their positions. 

MEXC Leaves Account Closure Timelines To Individual Customer Notifications

MEXC said in its announcement that the users whose accounts are affected by the restrictions will be issued a notification explaining the procedures and timelines that apply to them. MEXC also stated that assets of users are secure in the process, though the company did not mention how many users will face an account closure and when the process of terminating the service will be finished. The absence of the letter on termination gives the right for users to use services of the exchange in case they follow terms of the company. The announcement does not state that every registered customer in Russia and Belarus will lose access immediately.

Users were told to get in touch with the support staff for issues regarding their account's status. Phishing attacks and fake accounts were warned about, and users were notified that the representatives would never ask for passwords, seed phrases, or any money transfer through personal messages. There was no indication of any regulatory order in the notice. The MEXC exchange did not mention any specific government entity, sanctions list, or license as the cause for the withdrawal.

The recent October announcement comes after the introduction of trading restrictions by the company back in May. On May 15th, MEXC introduced trading restrictions on specific futures pairs in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, and Belarus. The trading restriction came into effect on May 18, 07:00 UTC.

In the context of May's arrangement, users in the affected regions were not allowed to create any new positions in the listed futures through market and limit orders. Orders that were pending or used as triggers in order to open any new position could no longer be executed in the listed futures. Users were able to manage their existing positions as well as trade in other futures markets.