South Korean tax agency posts wallet mnemonic, loses $4.8m

South Korea's National Tax Service seized $5.6 million in cryptocurrency from 124 tax-evading citizens late last month. The agency then released photos of a hardware crypto wallet containing $4.8 million alongside a handwritten mnemonic recovery phrase. An opportunistic thief appears to have used the image to take the funds.

The crypto is tied to an obscure token called Pre-Retogeum (PRTG), which is listed on a single exchange and has a market valuation of around $12 million. The seized amount would represent about 40% of PRTG's entire supply, meaning significant sales would likely cause the token's value to plummet before transactions completed.

South Korea

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