đ¨ The Incident: A Phishing Scam at the Prosecutor's Office
In late January 2026, reports surfaced that South Korean prosecutors had "lost" a massive amount of Bitcoin that had been seized from criminal organizations (primarily illegal gambling rings).
The Cause: During a routine inspection of seized assets stored on USB devices (cold wallets), a prosecution official reportedly clicked on a phishing link or accessed a fraudulent website.
The Breach: This action allowed attackers to compromise the private keys or drain the assets from the devices.
The Timeline: While the theft was discovered during a recent audit, investigators believe the actual "drain" occurred around June or July 2025.
đ° The Total "Loss"
The exact figure has been a subject of debate between official statements and media leaks:
Estimated Value: Internal estimates place the loss at approximately 70 billion won (roughly $48 million â $50 million USD).
Asset Type: The majority of the stolen funds were in Bitcoin (BTC).
Context: Some reports suggest the total amount of seized crypto managed by this office was even higher, linked to a 2024 gambling case involving over 300 $BTC .
$BTC âď¸ Legal & Market Context
This incident is particularly embarrassing for the South Korean government due to recent legal shifts:
Supreme Court Ruling: In December 2025, the South Korean Supreme Court solidified the governmentâs power to seize Bitcoin held on centralized exchanges (like Upbit and Bithumb), treating it as "intangible property."
Institutional Irony: The loss happened just as South Korea began lifting its nine-year ban on corporate crypto investing (January 2026). The government was pushing for higher security standards for the private sector while its own law enforcement failed a basic phishing test.#Mag7Earnings #SouthKoreaSeizedBTCLoss #ScrollCoFounderXAccountHacked #ETHWhaleMovements