The Bank of Korea is stress-testing its financial sector against crypto shocks. In what The Herald Business describes as the central bank’s first survey of its kind, it has asked 18 banks and 13 brokerages how they would be affected if South Korea’s No. 1 crypto exchange had to halt operations temporarily after a major hack.
The questionnaire went out on October 23, with responses due by November 4. Among the banks surveyed are the country’s top five lenders: KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup, according to Yonhap reporting cited by the sources.
Three Crypto Stress Scenarios for Korean Banks
The survey models three unpleasant scenarios: a temporary shutdown of the country’s biggest exchange after a hack, a steep fall in bitcoin and crypto prices followed by a prolonged trading slump, and heavy crypto-related losses at another financial institution.
Beyond the scenarios, the Bank of Korea is collecting hard data on each firm’s crypto footprint: staffing levels, budgets, reasons for entering the digital-asset market, risk management practices, and the amounts invested in domestic and overseas crypto companies. The answers will be used as internal reference material — nothing in the reporting indicates new rules have been set yet.
The timing is notable: the survey went out a week before Binance put its hot-wallet losses at about $6.3 billion, a theft the FBI has attributed to North Korea’s TraderTraitor unit. The questionnaire predates that hack, but it shows regulators were already treating a major exchange incident as a realistic source of losses for banks themselves.
Also Read: Binance Spent Half Its SAFU Bitcoin Fund ($580 Million) After $6.3 Billion Hack, Data Shows
Source: CoinDesk — read the full story there.
