South Korean Police Establish First "Dark Coin" Management Guidelines, Seized Crypto Assets Valued at Approximately 54.5 Billion KRW Over Past Five Years

Odaily According to reports, the Korean National Police Agency recently completed a draft directive on compliance matters for each stage of cryptocurrency seizure, which for the first time includes a management plan for software wallets (hot wallets) required for handling seized dark coins. Due to their strong anonymity, dark coins are difficult to store in hardware wallets, and most major exchanges do not support their trading. Previously, frontline law enforcement agencies, in the absence of relevant regulations, could only store dark coins in software wallets.

Over the past five years, the crypto assets seized by Korean police are estimated to be worth approximately 54.5 billion KRW at current market prices, with Bitcoin accounting for about 50.7 billion KRW and Ethereum about 1.8 billion KRW. The National Police Agency plans to complete the selection of private custodial institutions within the first half of the year. The previous three tenders all failed, mainly because qualified domestic custodians are mostly small and medium-sized, and the police budget is only 83 million KRW.

Experts suggest establishing a government-led "public custody" system, entrusting seized crypto assets to professional trustees for unified management to prevent security incidents.