A man reads tables displayed at Bithumb, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, in central Seoul on Jun. 20, 2018. (Yonhap)
SUWON, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — As the Bitcoin price continues to rise, bitcoin assets generated by criminal activities and later confiscated by the government will be incorporated into the state treasury after two years of waiting.
Bitcoins confiscated by the prosecution following the country’s first supreme court decision permitting the confiscation of bitcoins in 2018 have been kept with the prosecution due to a lack of legal grounds to incorporate them into the state treasury.
Starting in March, however, a new amendment will recognize cryptocurrency as an asset, enabling public sales and other necessary procedures for confiscation.
In May 2018, the supreme court decided to a man surnamed Ahn, accused of sexual offenses against juveniles, to one year and six months in prison, confiscating 191 bitcoins earned via criminal activities as well as 690 million won (US$630,000).
The bitcoins, valued at 500 million won when the police first confiscated them in May 2017, jumped in value by a factor of 3 by the time the supreme court issued its final verdict.
Bitcoin prices have skyrocketed since the end of last year, while the confiscated assets were being held by investigative agencies.
As of Thursday, the price of one bitcoin stood at around 40 million won. The 191 bitcoins are now worth roughly 7.6 billion won, jumping in value by a factor of 15 since they were first confiscated.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
