South Korea’s Supreme Court Says Bitcoin Held on Exchanges Can Be Seized

South Korea’s Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling on December 11, 2025, explicitly stating that Bitcoin held in centralized exchanges can be seized by investigators, upholding the seizure of 55.6 BTC from a suspect in a money laundering case. The court determined that Bitcoin qualifies as an "object of seizure" under the Criminal Procedure Act due to its independent manageability, tradability, and economic value, extending previous precedents that only recognized it as confiscable criminal proceeds. This decision clarifies the legal exposure for users keeping BTC on Korean exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb, placing greater pressure on exchanges to comply with warrants and strengthen KYC systems. The ruling aligns with international practices in the US and EU, and it comes as South Korean regulators consider preemptive freezes for suspected market manipulation and prepare for broader digital asset legislation, including stablecoin rules and the introduction of spot digital asset ETFs.

(Source：Cointelegraph)