Korean court rules Bitcoin cannot be confiscated

On September 8, 2017, the Suwon District Court in South Korea set a significant legal precedent concerning the status of Bitcoin under the law. The court declared that Bitcoin, due to its intangible nature, could not be subject to confiscation.
 

The case that led to this ruling involved an individual suspected of operating an illegal pornography website. The Southern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency had seized 216 Bitcoins from the individual, marking the first instance in Korea where digital currency was confiscated as criminal proceeds.
 

However, the court ruled that it was inappropriate to confiscate the Bitcoins. The rationale was that, unlike physical entities such as cash, Bitcoins exist in the form of electronic files. The court further elaborated that virtual currencies could not assume an objective standard value, making it difficult to calculate their worth for the purpose of confiscation.