The South Korean prosecution recently completed a rare disposal of cryptocurrency assets—liquidating all 320 Bitcoins recovered from a phishing attack, with proceeds of approximately $21.5 million paid into the national treasury. The sale took 11 days, conducted in batches from February 24 to March 6, aimed at avoiding a severe market impact.
This batch of Bitcoins originally stemmed from the seizure of assets related to an illegal online gambling case between 2018 and 2021, involving an amount as high as 390 billion won (approximately $285 million). However, during the asset custody period, the managing agency fell victim to a phishing attack, where hackers gained access through a spoofed website and transferred some of the Bitcoins to external wallets.
Fortunately, law enforcement quickly tracked the flow of funds through blockchain analysis and urgently contacted major domestic and international exchanges, successfully freezing the hacker's addresses and preventing further movement of the funds. Two days later, the involved assets were transferred back to a secure custody account, ensuring the legality and safety of subsequent disposal.
Meanwhile, the South Korean judicial system is reassessing the legal status of cryptocurrency losses in personal debt restructuring. If reforms are implemented, future losses from hacking or market fluctuations will be regarded as ordinary asset depreciation rather than speculative liabilities, potentially providing victims with a fairer path for debt resolution.