The post South Korea Tax Agency Targets Cold Wallets in Crypto Seizures appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) is expanding its crackdown on tax evasion, warning that even crypto assets stored in cold wallets will be subject to seizure. According to a report from local news outlet Hankook Ilbo, an NTS official said the agency is prepared to conduct home searches and confiscate hard drives and cold wallet devices if it suspects that tax delinquents are hiding their crypto assets offline.  “We analyze tax delinquents’ coin transaction history through crypto-tracking programs, and if there is suspicion of offline concealment, we will conduct home searches and seizures,” the NTS spokesperson reportedly said.  Under the country’s National Tax Collection Act, the NTS can request account information from local exchanges, freeze accounts from tax delinquents and liquidate their assets at market value to cover their unpaid taxes.  NTS seized and liquidated over $100 million in crypto in four years A cold wallet is a crypto storage method that remains disconnected from the internet. This setup makes it more difficult for hackers to remotely access the funds. While it helps secure crypto assets, the NTS said that it can also be used to conceal assets, making tax collection more challenging. The statement marks a new phase in the agency’s enforcement strategy as cryptocurrency continues to gain mainstream adoption in the country.  Hankook Ilbo reported that the number of crypto investors in the country soared to nearly 11 million as of June, up almost 800% from 1.2 million in 2020. The outlet said that trading volumes in the country climbed from 1 trillion won ($730 million) to $4.7 billion in the same period.  The surge in crypto adoption also led to an increase in crypto-related tax evasion cases. The agency began targeting tax evaders’ crypto assets in 2021, confiscating about $50 million from 5,700 suspects.  Since then,… The post South Korea Tax Agency Targets Cold Wallets in Crypto Seizures appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) is expanding its crackdown on tax evasion, warning that even crypto assets stored in cold wallets will be subject to seizure. According to a report from local news outlet Hankook Ilbo, an NTS official said the agency is prepared to conduct home searches and confiscate hard drives and cold wallet devices if it suspects that tax delinquents are hiding their crypto assets offline.  “We analyze tax delinquents’ coin transaction history through crypto-tracking programs, and if there is suspicion of offline concealment, we will conduct home searches and seizures,” the NTS spokesperson reportedly said.  Under the country’s National Tax Collection Act, the NTS can request account information from local exchanges, freeze accounts from tax delinquents and liquidate their assets at market value to cover their unpaid taxes.  NTS seized and liquidated over $100 million in crypto in four years A cold wallet is a crypto storage method that remains disconnected from the internet. This setup makes it more difficult for hackers to remotely access the funds. While it helps secure crypto assets, the NTS said that it can also be used to conceal assets, making tax collection more challenging. The statement marks a new phase in the agency’s enforcement strategy as cryptocurrency continues to gain mainstream adoption in the country.  Hankook Ilbo reported that the number of crypto investors in the country soared to nearly 11 million as of June, up almost 800% from 1.2 million in 2020. The outlet said that trading volumes in the country climbed from 1 trillion won ($730 million) to $4.7 billion in the same period.  The surge in crypto adoption also led to an increase in crypto-related tax evasion cases. The agency began targeting tax evaders’ crypto assets in 2021, confiscating about $50 million from 5,700 suspects.  Since then,…