South Korea’s five major cryptocurrency exchanges paid a combined KRW 1.35 billion in disability employment levies over a five-year period after failing to meet mandatory statutory quotas, according to data obtained by Rep. Park Dae-chul of the People Power Party.
Levies Paid Across Five Major Exchanges From 2021 to 2025
South Korea enforces a mandatory employment ratio for companies above a specified workforce threshold, which sits at 3.10% for the current year. Businesses that fall below this target must pay an employment levy to offset the shortfall. Data submitted to the National Assembly details how Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Digital X, and GOPAX accumulated a total of KRW 1.35143 billion in these charges between 2021 and 2025.
Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, accounted for the largest share of the payments. The company incurred KRW 723.09 million in levies over four years starting in 2021. Its disability employment rate reached 3.02% last year. However, Dunamu avoided paying the levy for that specific period because applicable regulations count employees with severe disabilities at double weight, pushing the adjusted figure above the statutory threshold.
Consistent Shortfalls at Coinone and Digital X
Coinone recorded levies in every single year of the five-year window, totaling KRW 325.73 million. The exchange reported zero employees with disabilities in 2021, 2023, and 2024, while its employment rate stood at 2% last year.
Digital X accumulated a combined KRW 184.60 million in charges. The company employed no people with disabilities from 2022 through last year. Furthermore, the submitted data shows the firm failed to establish any separate target or plan to increase disability hiring during that timeframe.
Bithumb and GOPAX Workforce Fluctuations
Bithumb recorded the highest disability employment rate among the five major platforms last year at 3.15%. Even with that compliance figure, the exchange paid a combined KRW 54.83 million in levies across 2021, 2022, and 2025.
The calculations behind these charges operate on monthly employment levels, meaning that a company can still incur charges for individual months in which it falls below the required quota even if its annual average employment rate exceeds the threshold.
Streami, the operator of GOPAX, paid KRW 63.18 million in 2022 when its workforce surpassed 100 employees. The company subsequently executed workforce reductions following the “GoFi incident.” These cuts brought GOPAX outside the mandatory employment threshold beginning in 2023. The platform maintained 69 employees at the close of last year, registering a disability employment rate of 0%.
