The South Korean National Tax Service mistakenly leaked seed phrases, leading to a theft of $4.8 million in PRTG tokens.
The South Korean National Tax Service erroneously disclosed the seed phrases for three cryptocurrency wallets, resulting in a significant theft of 4 million PRTG tokens valued at around $4.8 million. This was revealed by local media.
This leak occurred when the agency included images of confiscated Ledger hardware wallets and their associated mnemonic phrases in an official press release.
Jae-Woo Cho, a blockchain expert at Hansung University, commented on the situation, stating that the information was misused to transfer the assets to another Ethereum wallet. He highlighted that such public disclosure of sensitive information is comparable to inviting theft. The tax authority's inadequate grasp of digital asset security has hindered recovery efforts, costing the government billions of won in lost public funds.
“Revealing crucial mnemonic information in a press release for public viewing is akin to advertising a call to take your money,” he remarked.
After the incident, PRTG token price increased slightly from $1.2 to $1.23. Currently, it is traded on the MEXC exchange with a reported volume of only $338 in the last day, and no other market data is available for the token.
Some observers noted that the wallet receiving the stolen tokens had transactions linked to exchanges like Bithumb, Bittrex, and Korbit, suggesting that user verification data from these platforms could assist in identifying the culprit.
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이 지갑주소 빗썸에서 돈받은내역있는 지갑이네요 ㄷㄷ pic.twitter.com/7MdIlIKMjh
— zin (@periagoge1) February 27, 2026
Issues in Digital Asset Management
This incident underscores broader concerns regarding the management of cryptocurrencies by South Korean authorities. Earlier this year, investigations were launched after the loss of bitcoins worth $47.7 million during an audit of seized assets. In a separate case, a hacker returned 320.8 BTC after their withdrawal was blocked by law enforcement.
Furthermore, authorities are probing the loss of 22 BTC that went missing from a cold wallet in Gangnam police station, and there are ongoing investigations into Bithumb regarding an erroneous distribution of 620,000 BTC to users earlier this year.
