TLDR
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) urged exchanges to hold more crypto in cold wallets.
The request follows a $6.3 billion attack on Binance’s hot wallets last week.
South Korean law already requires exchanges to keep at least 80% of customer crypto offline.
Upbit leads with a 99.17% cold wallet ratio, while GOPAX sits at 80.54%.
The Bank of Korea is separately surveying 31 financial firms on crypto-related risks.
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has urged local crypto exchanges to keep more customer assets in cold wallets. The request follows a $6.3 billion attack on Binance last week.
Cold wallets are offline storage systems that are not connected to the internet. Exchanges in South Korea are already required by law to hold at least 80% of customer crypto in these wallets.
In a statement on Monday, the FSC said it held an emergency meeting to review the impact of the Binance hack on the local market. The meeting included the Financial Supervisory Service, the Financial Security Institute and the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA). Major crypto service providers also took part.
Attackers stole about $6.3 billion from Binance’s hot wallets last week, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. Hot wallets are connected to the internet, which makes them easier to target.
TRM Labs said the attackers moved most of the stolen funds in about 20 minutes. The firm linked the theft to North Korea and called it the largest hack in history. North Korea has denied any role and pointed the finger at the United States.
Binance has said the vast majority of its users’ assets are held in cold storage. This means most customer funds were kept offline when the attack took place.
Regulator Reviews Exchange Security
The FSC said it reviewed how exchanges control access to their IT systems. It also looked at wallet withdrawal approvals, signing procedures and administrator privileges.
Following the review, the regulator asked providers to raise the share of assets held in offline cold wallets. It also urged exchanges to keep a constant watch on deposits and withdrawals.
Exchanges were asked to add more staff for incident response. The FSC also wants operators to quickly report and share information about unusual access attempts.
Operators were told to set aside extra reserves. The regulator also asked them to put in place any other security steps that could be introduced right away to prevent similar breaches.
The FSC said it would keep working with other agencies and the industry. Its goal is to prevent further attacks and limit possible damage.
Cold Wallet Levels Vary Across Exchanges
While all exchanges must meet the 80% rule, their cold wallet holdings differ widely. Data from the Financial Supervisory Service, cited by local media, shows the ratios at the end of September.
Upbit had the highest cold wallet ratio at 99.17%. Bithumb followed at 94.76%, while Coinone reported 85%.
Digital X, formerly known as Korbit, reported a ratio of 82.79%. GOPAX stood at 80.54%, just above the legal minimum. Cointelegraph reached out to all five exchanges for comment.
The FSC’s warning comes as the Bank of Korea runs its own separate review. The central bank is surveying 18 banks and 13 brokerages about their exposure to crypto-related risks.
The survey covers risks such as major exchange hacks and long market downturns. The Bank of Korea’s review began before the Binance attack took place.
The post South Korea Calls Emergency Crypto Meeting After Record Binance Hack appeared first on Blockonomi .
