22 BTC Vanish from South Korean Police Cold Wallet

22 BTC missing from South Korean police cold wallet; investigation underway.

South Korean authorities have launched an investigation into the disappearance of 22 BTC, seized in 2021. The coins were stored in a cold wallet at the Gangnam police station in Seoul, according to local media.

The absence of bitcoins, valued at approximately $1.5 million, was discovered during a nationwide audit of digital assets confiscated by law enforcement.

The audits commenced following the loss of 320 BTC by the Gwangju District Prosecutor’s Office worth about $48 million. The missing coins were identified in January. Preliminary findings suggest a password leak was the cause. An employee of the agency fell victim to a phishing attack by accessing a fraudulent website.

In the case of the Seoul police station, it is known that 22 BTC were transferred to an external address. The physical USB device used for storing the assets was not stolen.

In early January, the Supreme Court of South Korea for the first time deemed the seizure of bitcoins from exchange wallets legal in criminal cases. Previously, only the confiscation of assets in favor of the state was permitted.

In November, South Korea’s largest exchange, Upbit, was hacked for $36.8 million. The breach was due to a vulnerability in the internal system.