韩国的外国工人越来越多地要求获得加密货币的工资

韩国各地的外国工人越来越多地转向加密货币以获得工资。

Foreign workers in South Korea are increasingly requesting to receive their wages in cryptocurrency, particularly stablecoins, instead of the local currency.

韩国的外国工人越来越多地要求以加密货币（尤其是稳定币）而不是当地货币获得工资。

In Eumseong, Chungcheongbuk-do (province), a factory owner in his 50s, identified only as Mr. A, who has operated an auto parts manufacturing plant for over two decades, encountered this shift firsthand.

在Eumseong，50多岁的工厂所有者Chungcheongbuk-do（省）仅确定为A先生，他经营了一家汽车零件制造工厂已有二十年多了，他亲自遇到了这一转变。

In January, he installed a digital wallet on his smartphone after more than 30 foreign employees insisted on being paid in cryptocurrency rather than South Korean won.

一月份，他在30多名外国员工坚持要以加密货币而不是韩国赢得奖励后，在智能手机上安装了一个数字钱包。

“Our employees can’t go to the bank easily, and I couldn't keep ignoring their requests,” he said.

他说：“我们的员工不能轻易去银行，我无法忽略他们的要求。”

Foreign workers across South Korea are increasingly turning to cryptocurrency to receive their wages. Many of them work in factories or on farms and had traditionally been paid in cash. But as word spreads that it’s easier and safer to get paid in digital coins, more employers are being drawn into the shift—some willingly, others reluctantly.

韩国各地的外国工人越来越多地转向加密货币以获得工资。他们中的许多人在工厂或农场工作，传统上是用现金支付的。但是，随着言语传播的是，在数字硬币中获得报酬更容易，更安全，更多的雇主被吸引到了转变中 - 有些人愿意，其他人勉强。

According to people in the crypto industry, cryptocurrency is rapidly becoming a form of “official currency” among undocumented foreign workers, who are often unable to open local bank accounts.

根据加密货币行业的人们的说法，加密货币正迅速成为无证外国工人中的“官方货币”形式，他们通常无法开设当地银行帐户。

“We’re seeing coins used as a default payment method in those communities,” one industry source said. Previously, workers would hold onto large amounts of cash, waiting until weekends or holidays to send money home via banks or remittance centers. That came with risk.

一位行业消息人士说：“我们认为硬币在这些社区中用作默认支付方法。”以前，工人会持有大量现金，等到周末或假期通过银行或汇款中心汇款。这是有风险的。

Late last year, a Nepalese worker in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do, reported 10 million won ($7,165) stolen from his dorm room. Afterward, fears of theft spread quickly, especially among workers who live together in shared shipping container-style accommodations.

去年下半年，扬朱（Yangju）的一名尼泊尔工人，贡吉吉（Gyeonggi Do）报告说，1000万韩元（7,165美元）从他的宿舍里偷走了。之后，对盗窃的恐惧迅速传播，尤其是在共享运输集装箱式住宿的工人中。

Trust among roommates deteriorated, and workers from India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal came together to propose a solution to their employer: pay us in crypto. Sending cash home also comes with time delays and transaction fees.

室友之间的信任恶化了，来自印度，斯里兰卡和尼泊尔的工人聚集在一起，向他们的雇主提出解决方案：付给我们的加密货币。寄售房屋还带来了时间延迟和交易费用。

For undocumented workers who can’t open bank accounts, the process often involved asking acquaintances to transfer money on their behalf—a workaround that added its own risks. Using cryptocurrency removes many of these barriers.

对于无法开设银行帐户的无证件工人，通常涉及熟人代表他们转移资金的过程，这增加了其自身风险。使用加密货币消除了许多障碍。

“For someone like me without a bank account, it’s a huge relief to have my salary stored safely on my phone,” said a Nepalese worker identified by his surname Bista.

“对于没有银行帐户的人来说，将我的薪水安全存储在手机上是一种巨大的欣慰，”他的姓氏Bista确定的一名尼泊尔工人说。

Among the many cryptocurrencies available, foreign workers tend to prefer stablecoins—particularly Tether (USDT), which is the most widely circulated with more than 80 billion tokens in existence. Its value remains pegged at $1 per token, making it a trusted option amid volatile foreign exchange markets. With the Korean won fluctuating due to geopolitical tensions, including the ongoing trade conflict between the United States and China, many see dollar-pegged coins as a safe haven.

在许多可用的加密货币中，外国工人倾向于更喜欢稳定的链球菌（USDT），这是现有超过800亿个令牌的循环最广泛。它的价值仍为每个代币$ 1，在波动的外汇市场中，它是一个值得信赖的期权。由于朝鲜人的地缘政治紧张局势，包括美国与中国之间的贸易冲突，韩国人赢得了波动，许多人将美元的硬币视为避风港。

Workers have begun referring to Tether as “digital dollars.” D, a worker from Myanmar who works at a moving company in Seoul, said they once lost more than $140 due to a sudden dip in the exchange rate during a remittance transfer. “Now that I’m paid in crypto, I don’t worry about exchange rates anymore,” they said. Myanmar’s currency has grown highly unstable since the country entered a prolonged civil conflict in 2021.

工人已经开始将林斯称为“数字美元”。 D是缅甸的一名工人，他在首尔的一家搬家公司工作，他说，由于汇款转移期间的汇率突然下跌，他们曾经损失了140多美元。他们说：“现在我用加密货币付款了，我不再担心汇率了。”自从该国于2021年进入长时间的民间冲突以来，缅甸的货币已经变得非常不稳定。

The shift toward cryptocurrency isn’t being driven solely by workers. Some employers, worn down by severe labor shortages, are offering it as an incentive.

向加密货币的转变并非仅由工人驱动。一些因严重劳动力短缺而磨损的雇主正在将其作为激励措施。

In Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, a staffing agency official said many business owners now suggest crypto payments upfront when trying to recruit workers. According to the Ministry of Justice, about 2.65 million foreign nationals were residing in South Korea as of 2024, accounting for 5.2% of the total population.

在Jeollanam-do的Suncheon中，一名人员管理机构官员说，许多企业主现在建议在试图招募工人时预先付款。据司法部称，截至2024年，约有265万外国国民居住在韩国，占总人口的5.2％。

Among them, an estimated 400,000 are undocumented. A staffing agency official in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, said the use of crypto wages has extended beyond factory workers.

其中，估计有400,000个没有证件。 Gyonggi省Dongducheon的一名人员管理机构官员说，加密工资的使用已超越工厂工人。

“For several years now, sex workers from countries like Thailand and the Philippines have also been receiving their daily pay in cryptocurrency,” the official said. From the government’s perspective, the growing volume of cryptocurrency remittances sent abroad by foreign workers raises concerns. A sharp increase could affect the country’s foreign exchange supply and put pressure on exchange rate volatility.

这位官员说：“几年来，来自泰国和菲律宾等国家的性工作者也一直在收到加密货币的日常薪水。”从政府的角度来看，外国工人在国外发送的加密货币汇款量增加引起了人们的关注。急剧增加可能会影响该国的外汇供应，并对汇率波动施加压力。

Under S, Korean labor law, wages must be paid in legal tender—meaning cryptocurrency-based payments are technically illegal. However, with the country facing chronic labor shortages across industries and agriculture due to its aging population and low birthrate, enforcing that regulation has proven difficult. Authorities appear reluctant to crack down aggressively, given the risk of further destabilizing already strained labor supply chains.

根据韩国劳动法，必须以法定货币支付工资 - 从技术上讲是基于加密货币的付款是非法的。但是，由于该国由于人口老龄化和低出生率而面临着整个行业和农业的长期劳动力短缺，因此证明该法规已被证明很困难。考虑到进一步破坏已经紧张的劳动力供应链的风险，当局似乎不愿意积极打击。