South Korea Expands Crypto Seizures to Enforce Unpaid Taxes

Tax authorities in several Seoul districts have begun confiscating digital assets from residents who failed to pay local ￰0￱ recent cases officials have seized millions of won in crypto holdings after tracing wallet activity linked to unpaid ￰1￱ Enforcement Systems Rolling Out Local governments are adopting systems that automatically identify and freeze wallets connected to tax ￰2￱ these programs individuals who owe beyond certain thresholds can have their exchange-linked assets frozen or liquidated to recover outstanding ￰3￱ Wallet Seizure Still Unclear While the systems are proven effective for exchange and custodial wallets it remains unclear whether enforcement can extend to cold wallets —offline devices or paper wallets that store private keys ￰4￱ actions would likely require direct legal intervention or compelled disclosure from ￰5￱ Direction and Broader Context The seizure campaign forms part of South Korea’s broader effort to integrate digital assets into its tax ￰6￱ are pairing blockchain analytics with exchange cooperation while preparing for the delayed 20 percent crypto income tax due in ￰7￱ strategy signals an intent to close enforcement gaps between traditional finance and crypto holdings.