Claw Machine Craze Has Taiwan Looking Behind the Sofa for Coins
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At a time when most countries are looking to do away with cash, a surge in the popularity of a particular kind of arcade game is forcing Taiwan’s central bank to churn out more coins to feed them.
The boom in claw machines has caused demand for NT$10 coins to spike, central bank governor Yang Chin-long said during a review of the government’s 2019 budget in the Legislature Thursday. Chiang Yung-chang, a lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, pointed out that of the NT$1.7 billion in coins the central bank plans to mint next year, NT$1 billion will be made up of NT$10 coins. With each NT$10 coin costing NT$4.75 to produce, Chiang asked the central bank if the increase was necessary.