Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has secured first place in the National Police Agency’s tender to provide custody for seized digital assets. The Public Procurement Service published the results on July 8 through Nara Marketplace, showing Dunamu with a total score of 94.73 points — a perfect 10 on price and 84.73 on technical evaluation.
The one-year contract, valued at 267 million won (approximately $195,000), will cover storage and management of all crypto assets confiscated by police during criminal investigations. If negotiations succeed, Dunamu will finalize the deal without further talks with other bidders. Korea Digital Asset Custody (KDAC) ranked second with 91.29 points, followed by Hecto Wallet One at 87.27.
The tender came after several embarrassing losses of seized Bitcoin. In January, about 320 BTC (around $48 million) went missing from the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office, and weeks later, Gangnam police disclosed that 22 BTC had vanished from assets seized in 2021. Both incidents involved USB wallets and poor private key management. Over five years, police have seized an estimated 54.5 billion won in crypto, and the volume outpaced their internal storage capabilities.
Industry criticism quickly resurfaced. Smaller custody firms argued that the tender’s strict conditions — immediate full-custody acceptance, a 24/7 response team, and 100% loss compensation guarantees — effectively favored large exchanges with deep balance sheets like Dunamu. Critics had earlier warned that such rules undermined pure-play custodians. The police agency maintained that the selection was made through fair competition and that the conditions were necessary for the state’s security needs.
Dunamu enters negotiations while also managing internal regulatory matters; the company recently postponed its all-stock share swap with Naver Financial again, pushing the completion date to December 31 pending approvals. Winning this custody mandate adds a government-linked role to Upbit’s market-dominant profile.
