By Stephen Gandel and Nupur Anand
NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) – US regulators contacted banks to check whether their systems had any vulnerabilities after last week’s $6.3 billion hack of Binance, alert to the risks that a hack in crypto markets could affect traditional finance at a time that links have tightened.
Supervisors from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency started reaching out to banks on Monday morning, asking about any unusual activity or disruption in their services, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
One source at a bank that regulators had contacted said there were no disruptions in its services. The source said bank employees prepared a list of talking points to discuss with customers, but they have since received few inquiries.
Banks have been studying the Binance hack, believed to be the largest financial heist in history, and are also doing diagnostics on their systems to ensure they are prepared to defend against a similar attack, according to two separate people familiar with the efforts.
Within hours of the attack, a cybersecurity team at one of the largest US banks reached out to counterparts at Binance, according to one of the sources. That team is working on an internal report that will lead to a review of the bank’s systems, and possibly cybersecurity updates. It was not yet clear whether the bank would be vulnerable to similar tactics used by the Binance hackers, according to the source.
Binance said it was unaware of conversations between bankers and regulators, and whether the hack had an impact on US banks.
“We are in close contact with regulators all over the world, keeping them up to date on this security breach,” a Binance spokesperson said.
The Fed and OCC declined comment.
One of the people familiar with the matter said the big concern is that artificial intelligence models have been evolving quickly, making it a challenge for banks to keep up with hackers. He said banks are devoting a lot of resources to reviews and patches of cybersecurity codes.
President Donald Trump has been a cheerleader for cryptocurrencies, and US bank regulators have smoothed the way for banks to get more active in crypto markets. For instance, the Federal Reserve revoked a 2022 rule that advised banks to get permission from regulators before launching any crypto-related activities.
(Reporting by Stephen Gandel, Nupur Anand and Tatiana Bautzer; editing by Megan Davies and David Gregorio)
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