South Korean prosecutors have sold 320.8 Bitcoin recovered after a phishing incident temporarily removed the crypto from government custody.
The Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office said it sold 320.8 Bitcoin (BTC) at market prices and transferred 31.59 billion Korean won (about $21.5 million) to the national treasury, The Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.
Authorities reportedly sold the Bitcoin in small batches over 11 days between Feb. 24 and March 6 to avoid disrupting the market.
The Bitcoin was reportedly originally seized from a suspect accused of operating an illegal gambling website that allegedly handled about 390 billion won ($285 million) in wagers between 2018 and 2021.
Bitcoin lost in a phishing attack was returned earlier this year
Prosecutors reportedly discovered the cryptocurrency had been lost during a custody handover in August 2025 when asset managers were tricked by a phishing website. The funds were later traced to a hacker’s wallet.
The Bitcoin returned to a government-controlled wallet on Feb. 17 after authorities asked domestic and overseas exchanges to freeze the address, making it difficult to liquidate the funds.
Related: South Korean authorities under fire over $43B Bithumb Bitcoin error
On Feb. 19, the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office said the hacker unexpectedly sent back 320.88 Bitcoin, which were later transferred to a secure exchange wallet controlled by authorities.
South Korean courts rethink crypto losses in debt restructuring cases
In other South Korean crypto news, courts are now reportedly reconsidering how crypto-related debts are handled in personal rehabilitation cases.
According to a Sunday report from local outlet EToday, newly established rehabilitation courts in Daejeon, Daegu and Gwangju are preparing guidelines that would generally exclude stock and cryptocurrency investment losses from liquidation value calculations.
The shift would treat crypto investment losses more like ordinary asset losses rather than speculative debts, potentially lowering repayment obligations for individuals undergoing court-supervised debt restructuring, EToday reported.
Magazine: China’s ‘50x’ blockchain boost, Alibaba-linked AI mines Bitcoin: Asia Express
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