South Korea to classify seized crypto as state assets under legal overhaul

South Korea’s government plans to explicitly classify virtual assets such as Bitcoin acquired through donations or criminal asset forfeitures as state assets and, in principle, auction them off immediately after acquisition, Chosun Biz reported. The government on Aug. 6 announced a broad overhaul of the state asset management system, according to the report. As of April, the central government held about 78 billion won ($56.3 million) in virtual assets. Authorities are also reviewing legal grounds for entrusting those assets to private exchanges and for recovering assets held on overseas exchanges and in electronic wallets, while allowing split auctions if a full sale raises concerns about market disruption.