MEXC Review 2026: Who Can Use It? Restrictions and Fees

MEXC is an offshore crypto exchange, and for many readers the first question is not its fees but whether they may use it at all. On November 7, 2026, its User Agreement listed the US, UK and Canada, plus France and the Netherlands, among the places where it does not provide services. On the same day, a German internet connection saw a pop-up saying the services are not intended for customers in Germany.

My assessment is simple: I do not recommend opening an account at MEXC. It holds no EU authorisation, it is winding down in two EU countries, the US Treasury’s FinCEN issued an order against it on November 6, 2026, and its low fees do not make up for that. We have no commercial relationship with MEXC. For this English edition we read its documents and public pages and checked regulators’ registers. We did not open an account, so nothing here is a test of deposits, trading or withdrawals.

MEXC review in 30 seconds

• Prohibited by MEXC: the US, UK, Canada, France and the Netherlands, among others, in the User Agreement as read on November 7, 2026.
• Winding down: in France, withdrawals close on March 5, 2027. In the Netherlands, accounts were offboarded in batches, and assets still left move to custody with Kraken on November 16, 2026.
• Germany: not on the prohibited list, but the homepage showed “Germany - IP restricted” on November 7, 2026. BaFin warned about MEXC in 2023.
• Licence: no entry among authorised providers in ESMA’s MiCA register, and one entry among non-compliant entities.
• United States: FinCEN issued an order on November 6, 2026 barring US financial institutions from transfers to or from MEXC Global. It takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
• Fees: spot 0 percent maker and up to 0.05 percent taker on most pairs; futures up to 0.04 and 0.10 percent. Low, but only one part of the decision.
• Reserves: MEXC published 111 to 294 percent for four assets on October 8, 2026. That is a snapshot, not a guarantee.

What do you need to know? A decision guide

What is your situation?

• I live in the US, UK or Canada→MEXC excludes you
• I live in France or the Netherlands→Wind-down dates
• I live in Germany or elsewhere in the EU→Unclear access, no licence
• I already have money at MEXC→Steps for existing users
• I want a licensed exchange→Comparison for Europe

This is orientation, not legal advice. MEXC can change its list at any time, so check the current terms.

Who can use MEXC? Status by country on November 7, 2026

Eligibility has four separate parts, and they do not always give the same answer. The first is whether you can register, the second whether you may trade, the third whether existing users can still withdraw, and the fourth whether MEXC is authorised locally. A sign-up form that loads tells you nothing about the last three.

Country	MEXC’s terms	Regulators
US	Prohibited	FinCEN order, 2026
UK	Prohibited	FCA warning, 2024
Canada	Prohibited	Quebec AMF, 2023
France	Prohibited, wind-down	AMF blacklist, 2024
Netherlands	Prohibited, wind-down	AFM warning, 2025
Germany	Not listed	BaFin warning, 2023
Other EU, EEA	Not listed	Not in ESMA’s list of authorised firms

US, UK and Canada: excluded by the agreement

• Registration and trading: the User Agreement says MEXC does not provide services and does not accept registrations or trade applications from these countries.
• Existing users: we found no published withdrawal schedule for them. The agreement lets MEXC end an account and liquidate positions if someone gave a false location.
• United States: see the FinCEN order below. It adds to MEXC’s own exclusion of US residents.
• United Kingdom: the FCA warns that MEXC Global Ltd is not authorised and may be targeting people in the UK. Its entry says you would have no access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the FSCS.
• Canada: Quebec’s AMF said in December 2023 that MEXC is not registered and may not solicit investors there. MEXC was on neither the CSA’s authorised list nor its banned list when we looked.

A VPN does not solve any of this. MEXC’s own guide says a VPN changes your IP address, not your residence, and its France notes call using one a breach of its terms. If you live in one of these countries, look at a provider that serves you openly, and check its limits for your state or province.

The FinCEN order of November 6, 2026

On November 6, 2026, FinCEN issued an order that bars US financial institutions from sending funds to or receiving funds from MEXC Global. Funds here include crypto. FinCEN finds MEXC Global to be of primary money laundering concern in connection with Russian illicit finance. Treasury alleges at least $16 billion in illicit transactions between May 2021 and May 2026, tied to sanctions evasion and cybercrime. These are the government’s findings and not a court judgment. In a statement the same night, MEXC said it was reviewing the order, operating normally and starting an independent review of its AML and sanctions controls.

The order is not yet in force, and it is neither a customer timetable nor a worldwide freeze. It takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The copy on FinCEN’s site still has a placeholder for that date, and we did not find it published on November 7. It binds US financial institutions, not MEXC’s customers abroad, and we found nothing in it about customer balances. If you plan to move funds from MEXC to a US provider, ask that provider first. FinCEN’s text also shows that crypto received from MEXC can raise problems for such firms. We do not know how the order will affect MEXC’s partners or payment routes.

France: wind-down until March 2027

MEXC announced the end of its French service on October 28, 2026, and new registrations from France are closed. It applies to users it links to France through KYC and account information, and batch numbers are sent by email and in the app. The stated reason is regulatory alignment, without naming a specific action. The AMF has had www.mexc.com on its crypto blacklist since June 4, 2024.

Step (UTC+1)	Date
Reduce-only starts, batch 1	November 18, 2026
Batch 2	December 10, 2026
Batch 3	December 31, 2026
Batch 4; open positions closed automatically	January 22, 2027
All accounts withdrawal-only	January 25, 2027
Withdrawals close	March 5, 2027, 00:00

After the last date, MEXC says remaining assets go to a regulated custodian that it has not named. Reduce-only means no deposits, spot buys or new positions, while closing positions and withdrawing stay possible. A request to review your data does not extend your dates unless MEXC confirms it.

Netherlands: offboarding, then custody with Kraken

The Dutch regulator AFM warned on September 24, 2025 that MEXC had no licence and was offering its services illegally in the Netherlands. It also said MEXC was no longer in a trade register and that its location and legal entity were unclear. ESMA’s list of non-compliant entities records the AFM decision of September 16, 2025. MEXC suspended fiat services for Dutch residents on March 20, 2026.

MEXC’s Dutch exit has two stages: account offboarding first, then custody of whatever is left. The notice dated September 29, 2026 ran four batches, with the last action date on October 23 and completion on October 31. A further notice of November 4, 2026 covers remaining assets, which explains the November 16 date in MEXC’s country guide. Your own MEXC messages still decide which batch applied to you.

Step (UTC)	Date
Recommended last moment to withdraw; first balance snapshot	November 7, 2026, 16:00
Unsupported assets, including USDT, MX and EUR, converted to USDC	Before November 11, 2026, 16:00
Second snapshot: sets the amounts held in custody	November 11, 2026, 16:00
Custody transfer complete; withdrawal requests through MEXC possible	From November 16, 2026

Anyone who missed the November 7 cutoff has to wait for the transfer and then go through MEXC Customer Service. MEXC says there is no custody fee and no minimum balance, and that Kraken’s own withdrawal fees and minimums apply. Conversions use the prevailing market price and cannot be reversed. You do not need a Kraken account, your account does not move to Kraken, and MEXC stays your contact. MEXC says there is currently no deadline for requests and that it would warn users before setting one. This custody arrangement is separate from the voluntary referrals to Bybit EU or Kraken, where you open an account and move your assets yourself.

Germany and the rest of the EU: no licence, mixed signals

Germany is not on MEXC’s prohibited list, yet MEXC told a German connection that its services are not intended for customers there. On November 7, 2026, logged out, the homepage showed a banner saying services are not available in your location, then, on a later load, a pop-up headed “Germany - IP restricted”. The same page still advertised a sign-up bonus, and the sign-up form loaded. We did not submit it, so we do not know if an account would be accepted. On August 14, 2026, the German edition of this review had seen no such notice.

We did not find a German wind-down schedule from MEXC, so we cannot give existing German users any dates. BaFin warned in October 2023 that MEXC offers financial services on mexc.com without authorisation. Germany’s MiCA transition period was 12 months in ESMA’s list, and the last ones in the EU ended on July 1, 2026. ESMA has said providers without authorisation should have orderly wind-down plans ready.

The same licence gap applies across the EU and EEA, even where MEXC has not named a country. ESMA’s register of authorised providers had no entry for MEXC in the file we read, and MEXC’s own guide says it holds no MiCA authorisation and points EU readers to authorised firms. The agreement calls its list non-exclusive, and France and the Netherlands show how fast a country can be added. In the EU, a provider in the MiCA register is the better starting point.

Where MEXC’s own documents disagree

MEXC’s pages do not all say the same thing, so here is how we read them. MEXC’s own guide says that the User Agreement and official announcements override its summaries. Where documents differ, we follow the agreement and the newest country notice, and we name the difference.

• Same date, different list: an archived copy of the agreement from October 14, 2026 does not list France, the Netherlands, Russia or Belarus. The copy we read on November 7 lists all four. Both say “Last Updated: 13 October, 2026”. We do not know the exact day of the change, so the date stamp alone is not proof of what applied.
• Guide against agreement: the country guide, last updated October 21, still says the EU and EEA are not on the list and does not mention France. It predates the French notice.
• Contract partner: the agreement names MEXC (Comoros) Ltd in Anjouan. The FCA names MEXC Global Ltd, and the AFM said in 2025 that the entity was unclear. We did not check a Comoros company register.

If you already have an account at MEXC

Treat your balance as something to move, not something to watch. Read the notices in your email and app first, because batch dates differ by account. Withdraw to a wallet or a licensed provider well before any date, and allow for KYC requests. Download your trade history too, since the agreement says MEXC has no duty to keep providing account information after a closure.

Be careful with messages about the wind-down. MEXC says it will never ask for passwords, verification codes or private keys, or for an upfront fee or a transfer to a “migration” or “safe” wallet. It also says Kraken will not contact Dutch customers directly about custody. Referral offers from other exchanges do not move anything automatically, so you still have to open the account and transfer your assets yourself.

Is MEXC safe? Contract, reserves and complaints

The bigger risk at MEXC is not a technical one but how little you can do if something goes wrong. The FCA spells it out for the UK: no ombudsman and no compensation scheme. We found no public deposit protection for your crypto elsewhere either. MEXC promotes a $100 million Guardian Fund and a futures insurance fund. Those are its own arrangements, not statutory compensation, and we did not establish what rights they give you.

What the User Agreement allows

• Freezes: MEXC may freeze accounts and assets at its sole discretion if it suspects a breach, including where an account has not been accessed for over a year.
• Forced exit: after a written notice it may close positions, convert your assets and close the account if you do not act in time.
• Liability: its liability is capped at the fees you paid in the previous three months, with exceptions under applicable law.
• Disputes: the law of England and Wales applies, with individual arbitration at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, to be started within one year.

What the reserve figures show and what they do not

MEXC’s reserve page is useful, but it answers a narrower question than “is my money safe?”. For a snapshot on October 8, 2026, MEXC reports USDT 122 percent, USDC 115 percent, BTC 294 percent and ETH 111 percent. Its formula is wallet assets divided by user assets. Hacken lists an October 2026 proof of reserves report for MEXC, but we could not open the report itself, so the limits below are general ones and not findings about that report.

• A moment in time: a snapshot says little about the days before or after it.
• Few assets: the rate covers four assets plus one Earn product, while MEXC lists thousands of tokens.
• Assets, not the whole company: a wallet balance does not show other debts or who else has a claim on those coins.
• No guarantee: a high ratio does not itself guarantee repayment and does not replace supervision.

One sentence on that page goes too far. It lists “Risk of bankruptcy eliminated” as a benefit of 1:1 reserves. Reserve data cannot eliminate that risk. Even a MiCA licence would not do that.

What users report

Complaints about blocked funds are common, although a review site is not a representative sample. On November 7, 2026, Trustpilot showed no rating for MEXC because of a breach of its guidelines and said it had removed fake reviews. Of the 1,364 remaining reviews, 88 percent gave one star and 3 percent five stars, with 376 from the last 12 months. Reviewers choose themselves, so read this as a warning sign and not as a rate of failure.

The best documented case shows both the problem and how it was solved. In July 2025, MEXC froze about $3 million of a trader known as the White Whale, citing its risk rules. After public pressure, its chief strategy officer apologised and released the funds on October 31, 2025, as Decrypt reported. The trader had a large public audience, which most customers do not have.

KYC at MEXC: the old “no ID needed” claim is out of date

Do not plan on using MEXC without an identity check. Many older reviews still repeat a no-KYC limit, and MEXC’s own November 2024 notice gave 10 BTC a day. A notice of February 5, 2026 replaces that allowance: it says unverified users have no deposits or withdrawals and restricted trading. A later help article of June 2, 2026 says only that missing KYC may affect those services, so we rely on the more explicit February wording. We could not test it without an account.

Level (MEXC help, June 2, 2026)	Crypto withdrawals per day	Fiat
Primary KYC	80 BTC	P2P
Advanced KYC	200 BTC	20,000 USD a day

A withdrawal limit is not a promise that a withdrawal will go through. The agreement lets MEXC hold funds during a review, and unverified users are pointed to an appeal form that, once approved, leaves only withdrawing and closing positions. If identity checks fail, MEXC may also close the account. Your KYC data is also what MEXC uses to link you to a wind-down country.

MEXC fees: low, with conditions

MEXC’s published fees are low, and they are the main reason people look at it. We read them on November 7, 2026, logged out on a German connection. MEXC says rates vary by region and events, so what you see may differ. Actual costs also depend on the spread and on how thin the order book is, which matters most in small tokens.

Item	Published on November 7, 2026
Spot maker	0.0000%
Spot taker	0.0000 to 0.0500%
BTC/USDT spot taker	0.05%, or 0.04% with the MX discount
Futures maker	0.000 to 0.040%
Futures taker	0.000 to 0.100%
Crypto deposit	Free in the rows we read
BTC withdrawal, Bitcoin network	0.00002 BTC (minimum 0.00004 BTC)
USDT withdrawal, Tron / Ethereum	1.2 / 0.3 USDT (minimum 2 / 8 USDT)

On a 1,000 USDT spot market order at the standard rate, the taker fee is 0.50 USDT. It falls to 0.40 USDT with the 20 percent MX discount, which works only if you hold MX tokens, switch the deduction on and see the feature in your account. The headline range is not a hard ceiling: LUNA/USDT carried a special rate of 0.08 percent. MEXC says it does not itself provide legal-tender deposits or withdrawals, so card and bank routes run through partners with their own fees.

What MEXC offers, according to MEXC

The product range is large, but these are provider claims that we did not test. The homepage showed 2,615 “trending tokens” on November 7, 2026, and the German edition recorded over 3,000 coins in August. The agreement also describes futures, copy trading and peer-to-peer trading. A wide list is no quality check, and thinly traded tokens can cost far more in slippage than the fee table suggests.

Leverage figures need care too. A MEXC article of November 6, 2026 says up to 500x on BTCUSDT and ETHUSDT, stepping down as positions grow, while the homepage tagged both pairs 200x on our German connection the next day. We did not find a tier table we could rely on. As simple arithmetic before fees, a move of about 0.2 percent against you wipes out the margin at 500x, and 1 percent at 100x.

Alternatives to MEXC

The useful question is which licensed provider serves your country. MEXC’s Dutch notice names Bybit EU or Kraken as options for customers who want to move. That is MEXC’s referral and not our recommendation, and we have not reviewed Bybit EU.

• Kraken: a public fee table in Kraken Pro, and separate companies for the US and the EU. It does not serve New York or Maine.
• Coinbase: a US-listed company with SEC filings to read, but usually higher costs for simple buys.
• Crypto exchanges in Europe: five providers with a MiCA licence, compared on published charges.

None of them offers MEXC’s list of small tokens, and that is the real trade-off. If a token is only tradable on an unlicensed exchange, ask whether you want that exposure at all, given that you would also be carrying platform risk. Crypto can lose value sharply on any exchange, and a licence does not change that.

Conclusion: not one I would open

MEXC’s fees are attractive, but the access and legal picture decides this review. It excludes the US, UK and Canada, is leaving France and the Netherlands, showed a restriction notice to a German connection, and has no EU authorisation. FinCEN’s order of November 6, 2026 adds a serious US finding, and the prohibited list changed under an unchanged date.

If you hold funds there, follow your notice and move them in good time. If you are choosing an exchange today, start with a provider that your own regulator can name. We will update this page as dates pass: November 7, 11 and 16, 2026 for Dutch custody, November 18 for the first French batch, and the effective date of the FinCEN order once it is published.

Frequently asked questions about MEXC

Is MEXC available in the US, UK or Canada?

No, MEXC’s User Agreement lists all three as prohibited. It does not accept registrations or trade applications from them, as read on November 7, 2026. A VPN does not change that. In the US, a FinCEN order of November 6, 2026 also bars financial institutions from transfers with MEXC Global once it takes effect.

Is MEXC banned in Europe?

There is no single EU-wide notice from MEXC, but it holds no MiCA authorisation. France and the Netherlands are on its prohibited list and in wind-down. Germany is not listed, yet the homepage showed an IP restriction on November 7, 2026. ESMA expects providers without authorisation to have wind-down plans.

Is MEXC available in Germany?

MEXC’s signals are mixed. The agreement does not list Germany, but a German connection saw a pop-up saying services are not intended for customers in Germany, while the sign-up form still loaded. BaFin warned in 2023. We found no German wind-down dates. This is not legal advice.

Is MEXC safe?

We cannot call it safe, although that does not make it a proven scam. Regulators in several countries have warned about it, no EU licence exists, and the contract gives it wide freezing powers. FinCEN made serious findings in November 2026. MEXC does publish reserve figures, but they are snapshots, and we did not test withdrawals.

Who owns or operates MEXC?

The User Agreement names MEXC (Comoros) Ltd, registered in Anjouan, Union of Comoros, as your contract partner. The FCA warning names MEXC Global Ltd, FinCEN calls MEXC Global Seychelles-based and lists affiliates in several countries, and the AFM said in 2025 that the entity was unclear. We did not check a Comoros register.

How much are MEXC’s fees?

On November 7, 2026, spot trading showed 0 percent maker and up to 0.05 percent taker on most pairs. Futures showed up to 0.04 percent maker and 0.10 percent taker. Some pairs carry special rates, and MEXC says fees vary by region.

Can you use MEXC without KYC?

Do not count on it. A MEXC notice of February 5, 2026 says unverified users cannot deposit or withdraw and have restricted trading. Older figures such as 10 BTC a day come from a 2024 notice.

What happens to funds left at MEXC after a wind-down?

It depends on the country, so read the notice for yours. In the Netherlands, remaining assets go into custody with Kraken by November 16, 2026, after unsupported ones are converted to USDC, and you request withdrawals through MEXC. In France, they go to a regulated custodian not yet named after March 5, 2027, and open positions are closed automatically before then. Withdraw before your dates.

Sources

Every figure comes from these pages, checked on November 6 and 7, 2026, unless a date is given. Rules and country lists at MEXC change quickly, so check the current page. We could not open Hacken’s report itself, so we did not read it.

• MEXC: User Agreement, archived copy of October 14, 2026, country guide, France notice, France FAQ, Netherlands notice, Netherlands custody notice of November 4, 2026, Netherlands fiat notice, fees, KYC FAQ, KYC notice of 2026, KYC notice of 2024, reserves, leverage article.
• EU regulators: ESMA MiCA register files, ESMA statement of December 4, 2025, ESMA transition periods, AFM warning, BaFin warning, AMF France blacklist.
• US Treasury: FinCEN announcement, FinCEN order, Treasury press release, MEXC’s statement on the order.
• Other regulators: FCA Warning List, Quebec AMF through IOSCO, CSA authorised platforms, CSA banned platforms.
• Other: Trustpilot, Hacken listing.

This review was written by Karsten Kagels. It is based on MEXC’s own documents and the records of regulators and the US Treasury, checked on November 6 and 7, 2026, and on page views from one German internet connection on November 7, 2026. We did not open or fund an account for this English edition. Crypto-assets can lose value sharply, and leverage can cost more than you invest. This is not investment or legal advice.