Domestic cryptocurrency exchanges have paid a total of approximately 1.3 billion won in employment levies over the past five years for failing to meet mandatory employment quotas for people with disabilities.

According to data submitted by five major crypto exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, DigitalX, and Gopax) to Representative Park Dae-chul of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, on October 6, the exchanges paid 1.35143 billion won in disability employment levies from 2021 to 2025.

The disability employment levy is a charge imposed on businesses subject to mandatory disability employment when they fail to achieve the required employment rate, which stands at 3.10% for this year.

The exchange that paid the largest amount in levies was Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, which paid 723.09 million won over the past five years.

Dunamu paid levies every year from 2021 to 2024.

Dunamu's disability employment rate last year was 3.02%. It is reported that it met the mandatory employment standard and did not pay a levy because the employment of workers with severe disabilities was counted as double.

Coinone was found to have paid disability levies every year over the past five years, totaling 325.73 million won.

Its disability employment rate stood at a mere 2% last year, while the rates in 2021, 2023, and 2024 were 0%.

DigitalX paid 184.6 million won over the past five years.

Except for 2021 and 2024, when its monthly average number of regular employees was under 100, the company failed to meet the mandatory employment rate every year.

Its disability employment rate remained consistently at 0% (zero employees) from 2022 through last year, and the company was found to have established no separate goals or concrete plans to expand the employment of people with disabilities.

Bithumb recorded the highest disability employment rate among crypto exchanges, but still paid 54.83 million won in levies in 2021, 2022, and 2025.

Bithumb's disability employment rate was 2.3% in 2021, but consistently exceeded the mandatory employment standard of 3.10% from 2022 to last year, reaching 3.15% last year.

Bithumb explained that employee entries and departures temporarily lowered its monthly disability employment rate in 2022 and 2025, resulting in the levy payments.

Streami, the operator of Gopax, paid 63.18 million won in disability employment levies only in 2022, when its total number of employees exceeded 100.

Beginning in 2023, following the so-called "Gopay incident" that generated around 3,000 victims, its headcount decreased, exempting the company from mandatory employment and levy payments.

Streami's disability employment rate stood at 0% with a total of 69 employees as of the end of last year, and the company was found to have no separate plans for hiring people with disabilities.

Representative Park Dae-chul stated, "A trend is widespread in the cryptocurrency industry to simply write off mandatory employment duties for people with disabilities by paying levies." He added, "As various means are available, such as the 'subsidiary-type standard workplace for workers with disabilities system,' companies must make voluntary efforts to fulfill their obligations."

(Photo: Yonhap News)