South Korea Recovers $21 Million BTC From Hacker - Track On Arkham

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The Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office has recovered 320.88 lost BTC, with the assets being returned to the prosecution’s wallet on the evening of the 17th. (View the transaction hash for this transfer here.) 

The BTC was stolen from the agency last year and, according to the agency, was returned voluntarily. The agency cited efforts to block attempts to move bitcoin from the criminal wallet to local exchanges, as well as requests for cooperation sent to overseas platforms, as the reason for the return.

This BTC, worth $21 million, was successfully reclaimed following a "secret return" by the thieves rather than a physical arrest.

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The recovery process began when on-chain data showed the 320.88 BTC transferred back to a wallet where the prosecutors controlled the keys.

The BTC then passed through several wallets before arriving in an Upbit cold wallet. It was the South Korean authorities who transferred the BTC to Upbit as it was perceived to be safer than self-custody. 

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There are several wallets involved in this chain of custody. They are listed below in order of transfer of the 320.88 BTC: 

• Bc1q2g3jy0e4057w4y0jltlp7vj8prchgf23f6et8c
• Bc1qsc8wc25emrkymxhk6x8l7ejt2wncn90qcpkc84
• Bc1qkuaa68z20rrhs248ax05ehlav8a8sejmp3554z
• Bc1qqees955lhqahu0z29ug9hadc95mzaxms0ked7a
• 3E5Rhr2SMuo4bXZWotqTQWKDaf2B9mGxjA
• Upbit: Cold Wallet (1Ay8v)

View the flow of funds here. 

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To trace the funds from the first address to the Upbit cold wallet in one intuitive dashboard, sign up to Arkham and use the Arkham Tracer. 

According to South Korean news outlets, the prosecution believes the return was triggered by freeze requests on domestic exchanges. These measures blocked the thieves’ ability to cash out, effectively forcing the return of the stolen funds.

The success of the recovery has caused legal and financial experts to pay attention to on-chain enforcement. For a deep-dive into blockchain intelligence, read our guide here. 

As more assets move across the blockchain, keeping track of their movement through several wallets will be a key metric for investigators and analysts.

The Arkham Intel Platform also provides powerful tools for monitoring the wallets of government entities and exchanges.