Upbit Custody to Manage Police-Seized Digital Assets in South Korea

South Korea's Upbit Custody, operated by Dunamu, has been selected to manage digital assets seized by the National Police Agency. The one-year contract will see Upbit Custody handle the police's confiscated digital assets, a move prompted by a series of security breaches involving public institutions.

Recent incidents highlight a critical gap in digital asset management. In August 2025, the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office lost approximately 30 billion won worth of Bitcoin due to a phishing attack. The National Police Agency itself misplaced 22 Bitcoins, valued at 2.1 billion won, in November 2021. The National Tax Service also suffered a loss of digital assets due to a data leak. These events underscored the urgent need for enhanced security protocols for seized digital assets.

In response, the Ministry of Economy and Finance released guidelines in April for managing virtual assets in the public sector. The National Police Agency initiated its own separate project to establish a secure and efficient system for managing confiscated digital assets. After initial attempts failed due to stringent requirements and low budgets, the agency increased the project's budget by 3.2 times to 267 million won and opened it to larger companies.

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We will store and manage the digital assets seized by the police for the next year through our digital asset custody service, Upbit Custody.

Six companies, including Dunamu, bid for the project. Dunamu emerged as the top contender after a rigorous evaluation process, securing the final contract on August 7. Upbit Custody, launched in August of the previous year, utilizes a 100% cold wallet storage system, separating assets from the internet to prevent hacking. It also employs multi-party computation (MPC), distributed key generation (DKG), and multi-signature technologies to bolster security.

Dunamu stated its commitment to enhancing public security and digital policing infrastructure with its established security expertise. The contract is seen as a significant step for Dunamu in the public custody market, with an estimated 78 billion won in digital assets held by government entities. However, some industry players express concern that large exchanges like Dunamu might crowd out specialized custody firms, potentially weakening their survival prospects.

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We will contribute to enhancing the stability of public security and digital policing infrastructure based on our accumulated security technology and thorough control capabilities.