The Korea National Tax Service has recently taken strict action, officially announcing: even if you store your crypto assets in cold wallets, you can't escape regulation. This is not just bluff — over the past four years, they have already seized over a hundred million dollars worth of crypto assets.

Many believe that cold wallets are a blind spot for enforcement, but that's not the case. As long as a link between addresses and individuals can be established—such as deposit and withdrawal records from exchanges, on-chain analysis data, or even physical possession evidence—cold wallets can still be confiscated. Local virtual asset service providers in Korea have become key nodes—tax authorities can directly request account information from exchanges and freeze funds, forming a complete chain of evidence from off-chain to on-chain.

Even more noteworthy is the surge in suspicious transaction reports. This indicates that compliance models, anomaly detection, and address profiling systems on trading platforms have become more sensitive. Once a warning is triggered, the likelihood of subsequent tax audits or criminal investigations increases significantly.

Who is most likely to fall into the trap? People who frequently move assets between different platforms, conduct OTC trades without leaving any trace; those with taxable income who fail to report or underreport; users who mix hot and cold wallets, resulting in chaotic fund flows. In short, these are operational methods that attempt to evade regulation.

Want to conduct a self-check for compliance? You should start from several aspects: First, keep all transaction evidence—cost bills, reconciliation statements, transaction IDs, and tax reports—without missing any. Second, use hot and cold wallets separately—hot wallets for daily trading, cold wallets for long-term holdings, and regularly take asset snapshots. Third, ensure all fund inflows and outflows go through legitimate channels, using qualified service providers and legal fiat channels—avoid those with unclear origins OTC. Fourth, confirm your tax calculation method—whether FIFO or weighted average—must be consistent annually and not changed at the last minute.