South Korean prosecutors said they recovered 320.88 Bitcoin, worth about $21.3 million, after the stolen funds were unexpectedly returned to an official wallet earlier this week, local media reported.
The Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office confirmed the bitcoin was sent back to a government-controlled wallet on Tuesday before being transferred to a secure domestic exchange account also under authorities’ control.
The 320 BTC had gone missing in August 2025 during an investigation and was later discovered during a routine inspection on Jan. 23, with prosecutors attributing the loss to a phishing attack that exposed access credentials.
Authorities said they had previously sent cooperation letters to local exchanges requesting that the hacker’s wallet address be frozen, potentially making it difficult to liquidate the assets, though they did not explain why the funds were returned.
“We will do our best to arrest the suspect regardless of the recovery of the bitcoin,”
The prosecutors’ office told local outlet Digital Asset Works, adding that investigations into related phishing sites and malicious domains are ongoing.
The recovery comes roughly a week after another 22 BTC, worth about $1.5 million at the time, vanished from Seoul police custody despite being held in a cold wallet, prompting a separate probe by the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency.
The incidents have intensified scrutiny over how authorities safeguard confiscated digital assets, as investigators continue efforts to identify those responsible for both transfers.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $67,234.37.