South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has announced the launch of the Ethereum Layer 2 network Giwa on its testnet—an initiative that could expand its business beyond cryptocurrency trading.
According to trading volume, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit confirmed this news at the Upbit D Conference 2025 held on Monday.
According to Giwa's documentation, Giwa (short for Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access) will utilize the OP Stack from the Optimism Foundation to achieve a 1-second block time while inheriting Ethereum's security for transaction settlement.
Giwa stated in its Korean translation documentation that its goal is to make Web3 infrastructure "simple and fun for everyone."
Other exchanges that have launched their own blockchains include Coinbase (which launched Base in August 2023) and Binance (which created BNB Chain in 2019). Both allow developers to build applications on their respective Layer 2 blockchains.
Google, Stripe, and Sony Group have also launched chains or announced plans to do so by 2025.
While the launch date for the Giwa mainnet has not been specified, development tools have been integrated into Giwa's testnet—Giwa Sepolia—supporting the migration of Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible contracts, and a block explorer to track testnet activity has already been launched.
According to Giwa's documentation, Upbit's blockchain will build blocks every second to provide near real-time transactions.
Giwa is also designed to be flexible, supporting customization as the Optimism Foundation's open-source technology stack continues to evolve.
Its GitHub account shows that the development of GIWA has been ongoing for at least three weeks.
However, Giwa Sepolia has added over 4 million blocks, and the 1-second block time suggests that the chain may launch sooner.
The term Giwa seems to originate from the curved tiles on the roofs of Korean palaces, temples, and traditional Hanok houses, typically made from fired clay, symbolizing heritage and protection.
Upbit accounts for about 73% of cryptocurrency trading in South Korea, with CoinGecko data showing a trading volume of $2.5 billion in the past 24 hours, ranking it 20th among cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite being primarily limited to the South Korean market, its ranking remains high.
The Chainalysis 2025 Global Adoption Index released last Wednesday indicated that South Korea recorded the second-largest inflow of cryptocurrency trading volume, reaching $1 trillion from July 2024 to June 2025—second only to the United States' $4.2 trillion.
Related: From "plugging leaks" to "guiding flow": South Korea's digital asset governance philosophy and the battle for financial sovereignty
Original: “South Korea's Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange Upbit Launches Ethereum Layer 2 Network Giwa”
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