Seoul’s NTS authorities have seized 25 billion won or 22 million USD worth of digital assets from tax evaders’ individual exchange accounts as per the local news agency Yonhap. The requisitioned cryptos came from individuals who are identified as “top tax delinquents” by the city’s tax collection agency. The total seized amount was from 676 individuals who held it in three cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Seoul office of the National Tax Service (NTS) has listed 1,566 tax evaders consisting of citizens and company heads. NTS Seoul has become the first in South Korea who began a thorough investigation of individuals who are allegedly hiding their assets in cryptocurrency.

The most funds from the seized cryptos were BITCOIN at 19%, followed by DragonVein and Ripple’s XRP (16% for both), in addition to ETHEREUM (10%) and Stellar (9%).

After the confiscation of digital assets, 118 offenders paid more than $1 million in taxes. They also requested the city government not to sell the seized cryptos. “Taxpayers expect further growth in cryptocurrencies and think that it will be more profitable for them to pay off the debt,” the city officials said.

South Korea will implement a 20% tax on profits, amounting to more than 2.5 million won or $2,230 USD, from trading in cryptocurrencies starting January 1, 2022.