Hacker returns $21 million in stolen bitcoin to South Korean authorities: report

South Korean prosecutors have recovered roughly $21.4 million worth of bitcoin (BTC) stolen from their custody last year, according to local media reports.

Last December, the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office discovered that they had lost the bitcoin seized from a raid on a gambling platform. Internal investigation revealed that the bitcoin was hacked in August after investigators mistakenly accessed a phishing website and entered recovery seed phrases.

On Tuesday, the hacker returned 320.8 BTC to the wallet held by authorities, local news outlet Digital Asset reported. Prosecutors said they had blocked transactions involving the hacker's wallet, making it difficult to liquidate the bitcoin. The hacker’s identity remains unknown.

Prosecutors have since moved the returned bitcoin to a local exchange for safekeeping and will continue to track down the hacker's identity, the report said.

Meanwhile, the incident has prompted a nationwide review of investigative agencies' management of seized digital assets. Last week, the investigation revealed that the Seoul Gangnam Police Station has also lost track of 22 BTC stored in a cold wallet since 2021.

The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency confirmed with The Block that it has launched an internal probe to determine the exact circumstances of the leak and whether there was any internal involvement.