Buy crypto and investigations are blocked? Controversy over an internal police ban on virtual assets
Buy crypto and investigations are blocked? Controversy over an internal police ban on virtual assets
Police bar investigators from holding virtual assets… Some say the policy is “out of touch with the times.”
Claims that avoidance of investigative divisions is accelerating… Gwangju Police Agency says “guidelines set by headquarters.”
An internal guideline has been introduced prohibiting investigators who handle major economic crime cases from holding virtual assets, prompting criticism among some police officers that the measure fails to reflect contemporary realities.
According to the Gwangju and South Jeolla Provincial Police Agencies on the 10th, police restrict frontline investigators in units dealing with virtual assets from holding such assets.
The rule bars not only the investigators themselves but also their spouses and direct lineal ascendants and descendants from newly acquiring virtual assets, and requires any assets already held to be disposed of within a set period.
If disposal is unavoidable due to extenuating circumstances, separate reporting and approval procedures must be followed.
While the specifics are broadly similar across provincial police agencies nationwide, in Gwangju and South Jeolla the restrictions apply to investigators and supervisors in the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit and the Cybercrime Investigation Unit, respectively.
Although the rationale is the high degree of job relevance to virtual-asset cases, critics say the policy is underpinned by a negative perception that views virtual-asset trading as speculative.
Frontline officers argue that outdated guidelines failing to reflect rapidly changing times are fueling capable investigators’ reluctance to work in investigative divisions.
They add that the problem is worsening as investigative manpower has decreased while workloads have risen, following the 2021 adjustment of prosecutorial and police investigative powers and the creation of new units such as mobile patrol teams in 2024.
One investigator said, “In the past there was a negative perception that virtual assets were purely speculative, but now they are increasingly recognized as a legitimate asset class,” adding, “Simply holding virtual assets does not automatically undermine the fairness of investigations.”
He continued, “When investigators who own stocks handle related cases, there are procedures in place to ensure fairness,” and argued, “If job relevance is a concern, systems like this should be built, rather than imposing blanket bans—an excessive, outdated measure.”
Another investigator said, “Virtual assets are a form of private property—how many investigators would be willing to give that up just to join an investigative division?” adding, “These units are already avoided, making it even harder to find applicants.”
In response, a Gwangju Police Agency official said, “The restriction is applied in a limited manner only to certain investigative units with high job relevance,” explaining, “After the Public Service Ethics Act was revised in 2023, the Ministry of Personnel Management required guidelines on civil servants’ virtual-asset holdings by agency, and headquarters established these guidelines accordingly.”
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only.
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