A bit of paper ruined every thing. South Korea’s Nationwide Tax Service (NTS) printed an official press launch final Thursday meant to focus on its crackdown on tax dodgers — and someplace within the course of, a full pockets seed phrase was photographed, printed, and despatched out to the general public with out anybody apparently noticing.
By the point somebody did, $4.8 million price of tokens had already walked out the door.
One Photograph, One Mistake, Thousands and thousands Gone
The press launch included a picture of a Ledger {hardware} pockets positioned subsequent to a handwritten sheet containing the pockets’s full mnemonic phrase — the string of phrases that features because the grasp key to any crypto pockets.
No blurring. No masking. Nothing. In keeping with experiences from Korean media shops together with Naver and Chosun, the discharge was a part of a broader NTS enforcement marketing campaign concentrating on individuals who owed taxes, with seized crypto property proven as proof of the company’s work.
What was meant to showcase authorities motion as a substitute handed anybody with sharp eyes full entry to the funds inside.
Blockchain researchers who examined the pockets’s transaction historical past discovered three separate incoming transfers totaling 4 million PRTG (Pre-Retogeum) tokens, adopted by a single outgoing switch that swept the whole steadiness to a different handle. Clear. Fast. Gone.
Researcher Says Precise Losses Could Be Smaller Than They Seem
Affiliate professor Jaewoo Cho of Hansung College’s Blockchain Analysis Middle confirmed the theft publicly on X, writing that the 4 million tokens — valued at roughly $4.8 million — have been taken immediately from the mnemonic phrase uncovered within the NTS launch.
국세청에서 보도자료로 유출(공개)한 니모닉에서 10시간 전에 PRTG 토큰 400만 개, 약 480만 달러어치가 탈취된 것을 확인했습니다.https://t.co/q6Ck7lxazK pic.twitter.com/JWnVI5Ua0N
— 조재우(Jaewoo Cho)⚡️ (@clayop) February 27, 2026
He additionally examined different wallets whose seed phrases might have been seen in the identical picture and mentioned these didn’t seem to hold important threat.
Cho added that as a result of PRTG tokens are laborious to transform into money, the actual monetary harm may very well be far smaller than the headline quantity suggests. He expressed hope that the incident would push South Korean authorities businesses to lastly construct correct techniques for holding seized crypto property.
The NTS has not issued a public response to the incident as of this writing.
A Sample Of Custody Issues In South Korea
What makes this story tougher to disregard is that it didn’t occur in isolation. Reviews say South Korean police individually found in February 2026 that 22 Bitcoin seized throughout a 2021 hacking case had gone lacking from a chilly pockets stored inside a Gangnam police station vault.
Two suspects have been arrested after investigators decided the cash had been moved utilizing a mnemonic phrase that authorities had by no means held management over.
The cash, price roughly $1.4 million, are gone.
Featured picture from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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