South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) is intensifying its efforts to combat tax evasion, warning that cryptocurrency assets stored in cold wallets could also be subject to seizure.
According to local outlet Hankook Ilbo, an NTS official confirmed that the agency is prepared to conduct home searches and confiscate hard drives or cold wallet devices if it suspects taxpayers are hiding crypto assets offline.
“We analyze tax delinquents’ coin transaction histories using crypto-tracking programs,” the NTS spokesperson said. “If we suspect offline concealment, we will carry out home searches and seizures.”
Under the National Tax Collection Act, the NTS has the authority to request account information from domestic exchanges, freeze accounts of tax delinquents, and liquidate assets at market value to recover unpaid taxes.
Over $100 Million in Crypto Seized and Liquidated in Four Years
Cold wallets—crypto storage devices that remain disconnected from the internet—are considered more secure against hackers but can also be used to conceal assets from tax authorities.
The NTS’s renewed focus on cold wallets signals a new phase in its enforcement strategy as cryptocurrency adoption grows in the country.
Hankook Ilbo reported that the number of crypto investors in South Korea reached nearly 11 million as of June 2025, up almost 800% from 1.2 million in 2020. Over the same period, trading volumes jumped from 1 trillion won ($730 million) to 6.4 trillion won ($4.7 billion).
The surge in crypto adoption has also coincided with a rise in crypto-related tax evasion cases. The NTS first began targeting crypto assets of tax evaders in 2021, seizing around $50 million from 5,700 individuals. In the four years since, the agency has confiscated and liquidated $108 million in cryptocurrency from over 14,000 people.
Suspicious Crypto Transactions Hit Record Levels in 2025
The NTS’s focus on cold wallets comes amid a sharp increase in suspicious crypto transactions this year. Data from South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) shows that virtual asset service providers (VASPs) filed nearly 37,000 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) as of August 2025.
STRs are a key component of the country’s anti-money laundering (AML) framework. The 2025 total has already surpassed the combined number of STRs filed in 2023 and 2024, setting a new record.
