United States banking regulators have reportedly reached out to financial institutions following last week's $6.3 billion hack of Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, while cybersecurity experts raised questions about how well banks are equipped to handle crypto-related security risks.

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

According to Stefan Muehlbauer, head of US government affairs at security firm CertiK, the inquiries could lead to closer scrutiny of how banks manage crypto-related risks, including custody arrangements, counterparty exposure and incident response procedures.

"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 reassess security systems

Per Reuters, banks have been reviewing the hack and checking their own systems to determine whether they could absorb or manage similar threats. The report also noted that a cybersecurity team at one of the largest US banks contacted Binance within hours of the incident — a detail that underlines how directly exchange security now intersects with traditional banking operations.

A Binance spokesperson confirmed to Cointelegraph that the exchange distributed its publicly released incident report to all of its banking partners and was not aware of any vulnerabilities affecting them.

Muehlbauer said the process now underway reflects "how a maturing framework should work," adding that "it's not a signal that regulators are pulling back from the industry."

The outreach follows another notable regulatory development: in April 2025, the Federal Reserve removed a requirement that state member banks notify regulators before engaging in crypto activities, stating it would continue to oversee such activities through its regular supervisory process. The reported inquiries illustrate that supervisory approach in action following a major crypto industry incident.

A Federal Reserve spokesperson told Cointelegraph the agency had nothing to share regarding the reported inquiries. Cointelegraph also contacted the OCC for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Largest crypto hack draws security concerns

In a Nov. 3 incident report, Binance said approximately $6.34 billion in digital assets were affected by the Oct. 29 attack, with $2.85 billion frozen or intercepted as of the report's release — a scale that makes it the largest crypto hack on record, with the remaining roughly $3.49 billion not yet frozen or intercepted at the time.

According to the exchange, the attack began with compromised software installed by an engineer in June. The hackers subsequently used social engineering, stolen credentials and malicious software to gain access to wallet systems and execute unauthorized transfers.

Dr. Darren Williams, founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm BlackFog, told Cointelegraph that the techniques used in the attack could pose risks to traditional banks, particularly those offering crypto custody and payment services.

"Attackers no longer need to break encryption or steal private keys if they can compromise the trusted systems and people authorized to move money," Williams said.

He warned that hackers could leverage compromised employee devices, accounts or third-party services to move funds without triggering any alerts, and noted that the growing use of agentic AI in financial operations could introduce even greater risks.

"The priority must be stopping unauthorized transactions and data exfiltration before assets or sensitive information leave the organization, not simply investigating the damage afterwards," Williams said.

Binance has since said it has strengthened its security controls and is bringing in independent cybersecurity experts to review the attack. The findings of that review, together with any further regulatory follow-up to the current inquiries, are the immediate markers to watch as the industry's response to the incident develops.