Chinese Firm Gifts $45,000 Gold Spacebar to Employee
Chinese tech firm gifts staff gold keycaps as bonus.
Chinese camera maker Insta360 is continuing its gilded reputation for rewarding staff with real gold, handing out 21 solid-gold keyboard keycaps to mark China’s Programmer’s Day. The largest, a 35-gram space bar, is valued at roughly US$45,000.
As reported by the South China Morning Post, the Shenzhen-based technology firm has given out gold keycaps for four straight years, turning the ritual into a hallmark of its company culture. The 2025 batch brought the total number of gold keycaps distributed to 55, with their collective value more than doubling since the first year, reflecting the surge in gold prices.
Known globally for its 360-degree cameras that compete directly with GoPro, Insta360 has become affectionately known in China’s tech scene as the “gold factory” for its habit of rewarding loyalty and performance with physical gold. Earlier in 2025, to celebrate its tenth anniversary, the company presented employees and interns with “gold blind boxes” containing pure gold stickers weighing 0.36 grams each, symbolizing both appreciation and emotional value.
The gold theme extends to life events and company festivities. Employees who marry or have children receive a one-gram pure gold coin, while the most recent year-end celebration featured a 50-gram 999 gold bar as the grand prize. Insta360’s tradition has become a talking point across the Chinese tech industry, where the company’s approach to “helping staff manage wealth” stands out amid a broader corporate culture of long hours and high pressure.
Gold's True Value, Finally Explained.https://t.co/UAh40adFpW
— VBL’s Ghost (@Sorenthek) November 11, 2025
A Chinese tech company has been rewarding its employees with gold keycaps as a bonus for four consecutive years, earning their appreciation for “helping them manage wealth.”