South Korea Sells 321 BTC Recovered From Phishing Attack
South Korea sold 320.8 Bitcoin recovered from a phishing attack for $21.5 million, transferring the funds to the national treasury.Summary
South Korean prosecutors have sold 320.8 Bitcoin (BTC) recovered after a phishing incident that temporarily removed the crypto from government custody. The Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office sold the Bitcoin in small batches over 11 days, from February 24th to March 6th, to avoid market disruption, realizing 31.59 billion Korean won (approximately $21.5 million). The Bitcoin was originally seized from a suspect linked to an illegal gambling website operating between 2018 and 2021. The cryptocurrency was lost during a custody handover in August 2025 due to a phishing attack, but was recovered after authorities froze related addresses and the hacker unexpectedly returned the funds on February 19th. Separately, South Korean courts are now reconsidering how crypto-related losses are handled in debt restructuring cases, potentially excluding them from liquidation value calculations.
(Source：Cointelegraph)