South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has urged domestic cryptocurrency exchanges to increase the share of customer assets held in cold wallets after attackers stole about $6.3 billion from Binance’s internet-connected wallets last week, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs.
The FSC said it held an emergency meeting on Monday with the Financial Supervisory Service, the Financial Security Institute, the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance and major crypto service providers. Participants reviewed the possible impact of the Binance incident on South Korea’s market and assessed exchanges’ security measures, including IT access controls, withdrawal approvals, wallet-signing procedures and administrator privileges.
South Korean exchanges are already required to keep at least 80% of users’ crypto assets in cold storage. However, Financial Supervisory Service data cited by local media shows that cold wallet ratios differ among major platforms. At the end of September, Upbit reported 99.17%, Bithumb 94.76% and Coinone 85%. Digital X, formerly Korbit, reported 82.79%, while GOPAX reported 80.54%.
The regulator also called on providers to monitor deposits and withdrawals continuously, add incident-response staff and promptly report and share information about unusual access attempts. It urged exchanges to set aside additional reserves and introduce other security measures that could be put in place immediately.
The FSC said it would continue working with relevant agencies and the industry to prevent attacks and limit potential damage. Separately, the Bank of Korea is surveying 18 banks and 13 brokerages about their exposure to crypto-related risks, including major exchange hacks and prolonged market downturns. That review began before the Binance attack.
Sources: Cointelegraph.