South Korea's Supreme Court rules that Bitcoin held in exchanges can be seized.

PANews reported on January 9th that, according to Cointelegraph, the South Korean Supreme Court, in a ruling on December 11, 2025, determined that Bitcoin stored on centralized exchanges falls under the category of assets subject to seizure under the Criminal Procedure Code. The court upheld the decision to seize 55.6 Bitcoins held by a suspect in a money laundering investigation. The ruling considered Bitcoin to possess independent manageability, tradability, and economic value. This ruling means that in South Korea, the legal risks for users storing Bitcoin on exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb are more clearly defined. Crypto assets related to suspected crimes can be directly frozen and seized on these exchanges, while the exchanges will also face greater pressure to quickly cooperate in executing search warrants and maintain strict customer identification (KYC) and tracking systems.