Fed, OCC check US banks after Binance hack as experts flag security risks

US regulators reportedly contacted banks following last week’s $6.3 billion Binance hack, as cybersecurity experts raised concerns about how financial institutions handle crypto-related security risks.

Officials from the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) began contacting banks on Monday to ask about “unusual activity” or service disruptions, Reuters reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. 

The reported inquiries could be followed by closer attention to how banks manage crypto-related risks, including custody, counterparty exposure and incident response, according to Stefan Muehlbauer, head of US government affairs at CertiK.

“After an incident of this scale, it would be surprising if the Fed and OCC didn’t check in with the banks they supervise,” Muehlbauer told Cointelegraph. “Their mandate is to protect the financial system, and that means understanding where exposures sit and how quickly they can respond.”

Banks review security systems after Binance hack

According to Reuters, banks have been assessing the hack and checking their systems to figure out whether they could absorb or manage similar threats.

Reuters’ report also noted that a cybersecurity team at one of the largest US banks contacted Binance within hours of the hack. A Binance spokesperson confirmed with Cointelegraph that the exchange shared its publicly released incident report with all its banking partners and was not aware of any vulnerabilities affecting them.