Overview
- The Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency arrested two suspects on Feb. 25 in the disappearance of 22 BTC that Gangnam Police seized in 2021 and later found missing during a nationwide audit.
- Investigators say the cold wallet device stayed in police custody but the coins were moved in 2022 using a mnemonic the police never controlled, with a third party managing the wallet’s keys.
- Police have not confirmed recovery of the 22 BTC, while separate reporting notes an ongoing probe that includes allegations of bribery linked to the original hacking investigation.
- The National Tax Service inadvertently published seed phrases in a press release, enabling transfers of 4 million PRTG tokens that on-chain analysts and Professor Jaewoo Cho later confirmed were returned to their original wallets.
- Authorities assigned the cyber unit to trace the tax-related transfers and announced tighter custody protocols for seized digital assets, including dual custodians, sealed hardware and recovery phrases, and plans to use specialized custodians.