IMF Reports AI Increasing Cyberattacks on Financial Systems

Advanced AI models can dramatically reduce the time and cost needed to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, the IMF said. The organization highlighted Anthropic's controlled release of Claude Mythos Preview, which is capable of identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities across major operating systems and web browsers, even by non-experts.

Attackers hold a natural advantage because discovering and exploiting vulnerabilities can occur faster than patching and remediation, the IMF added. This speed is outpacing traditional financial defenses. Barclays CEO CS Venkatakrishnan, speaking at a G30 consultancy group meeting during the IMF spring gatherings, called the new AI tool a serious issue.

He warned it could identify vulnerabilities in financial systems.

Emerging markets accounted for 77 percent of Binance users in 2026, up from 49 percent in 2020. Users in those countries increasingly treat the exchange for savings, payments and investment access rather than pure trading, according to a Binance Research report released Saturday.

The report frames crypto adoption as a financial-access story. Eighty-three percent of users engaging with two or more products on the platform are based in emerging markets, while users there show savings rates more than twice as high as those in developed markets.

About 36 percent of emerging-market Binance users with balances of at least $10 hold at least half of their portfolio in stablecoins. This pattern is consistent with savings-oriented usage. Globally, 28 percent of users meet that threshold, up from 4 percent in 2020.

One point three billion adults lack financial services, 4.7 billion lack credit, and 1.4 billion savers in low-income nations earn no deposit interest. Stablecoins enable transfers on high-performance networks that can cost as little as $0.0001 and settle almost instantly, compared with a minimum of $20 for cross-border SWIFT transactions.

Stablecoins are increasingly used in emerging markets for remittances, savings and cross-border commerce. Data from Brazil’s tax authority has shown stablecoins drive 90 percent of the country’s crypto volume.

For new graduates and young adults just starting out, personal finance expert Beth Kobliner advised sticking to financial basics. Kobliner, author of the newly revised “Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties,” spoke with Yahoo Finance on Saturday.

Her core rules include keeping debt payments, excluding mortgage, below 15 percent of monthly pretax pay. Rent or mortgage payments should not exceed 30 percent of monthly take-home pay, though this is difficult in major cities. Saving at least 10 percent of take-home pay each month is also recommended.

Time is critical for young investors because money grows exponentially in tax-deferred retirement accounts through compounding. Kobliner noted that trying to make money quickly through individual stocks often leads to big losses that take years to recover from.

The basics remain the same: stay out of high-interest debt, contribute to retirement plans and invest in low-cost index funds. Young people today face higher student loan and credit card debt than previous generations. College graduates' unemployment rates are worse than the average population's for the first time in decades.

Kobliner recommended maximizing any employer 401(k) match, avoiding credit card debt and never missing student loan or rent payments. " — Beth Kobliner, May 9, 2026 (Yahoo Finance) The separate IMF and Binance reports illustrate two sides of technology's impact on finance: accelerating risks in traditional systems and providing workarounds for the unbanked in developing economies.