Police Who Lost Bitcoin to Establish Guidelines for Managing Virtual Assets

Separate Management Guidelines to Be Issued by the National Police Agency

The police, who had lost Bitcoin seized during an investigation, are preparing separate management guidelines for virtual assets.

Park Jeongbo, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, is delivering an inaugural address at an inauguration ceremony held at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno District, Seoul. Yonhap News

On the 23rd, Park Jeongbo, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said at a regular press briefing held at the agency building in Jongno District, Seoul, that the police had lost approximately 2.1 billion won worth of Bitcoin that had been submitted by a suspect during an investigation. He stated, "Taking this case as an opportunity, the National Police Agency will establish separate management guidelines for seized virtual assets and distribute them within this week."

Previously, in November 2021, the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul received Bitcoin worth about 2.1 billion won from a suspect in the course of investigating a financial crime case, but lost it. It was later confirmed that the Bitcoin stored inside a USB-type cold wallet, a portable electronic wallet containing Bitcoin, had been lost, even though the cold wallet itself remained. Commissioner Park explained regarding this case, "The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency is currently conducting an investigation into the alleged theft."

A similar incident occurred at the prosecution. The Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office lost 320 Bitcoins, worth about 30 billion won at market value, which had been kept as criminal seizure assets, but recently recovered the entire amount.

Commissioner Park said, "We will thoroughly prepare and implement measures to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future."