The largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, Upbit, announced the launch of its own second-layer blockchain based on Ethereum — Giwa. The first phase of the project has started in the testnet, marking a strategic step for the company beyond its traditional role as a trading platform.
The official announcement was made at the Upbit D 2025 conference held on Monday. According to the materials presented, Giwa (which stands for Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access) is built on the OP Stack from the Optimism Foundation. This solution enables block formation every second while maintaining the security of the Ethereum mainnet. As noted in the Korean version of the documentation, the main goal of the project is to make Web3 infrastructure as accessible and appealing as possible to a wide audience.
Upbit joins a number of major exchanges that have launched their own blockchains. For example, Coinbase introduced the Base network in August 2023, and Binance created the BNB Chain back in 2019. Both platforms actively support developers by providing them with an environment to create decentralized applications. In addition to cryptocurrency exchanges, tech giants such as Google, Stripe, and Sony Group have also announced plans to launch or have already implemented their solutions in this direction in 2025.
Although the exact date for Giwa's transition to the mainnet has not yet been disclosed, the test version — Giwa Sepolia — is already equipped with everything necessary for developers: tools for migrating smart contracts compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), as well as a fully functional block explorer tracking activity in the testnet.
Particular attention in Giwa's architecture is paid to speed and flexibility. The blockchain is capable of processing transactions almost instantly due to the one-second interval between blocks. At the same time, it remains modular — thanks to the open OP Stack, it can be adapted to the changing requirements of the ecosystem.
According to data from the GIWA GitHub account, the project has been in development for at least three weeks. However, considering that over 4 million blocks have already been recorded in the testnet, it can be assumed that internal work has been ongoing for significantly longer.
The name Giwa refers to traditional Korean architecture: it is the term for the curved tiles that cover the roofs of temples, palaces, and hanok houses. Made from fired clay, it symbolizes cultural heritage and reliable protection — a metaphor reflecting the project's philosophy.
South Korea continues to strengthen its position in the global cryptocurrency market. According to CoinGecko, Upbit's share of the national trading volume is about 73%, and in the last 24 hours, the exchange ranked 20th in the global ranking with a trading volume of $2.5 billion — largely due to its focus on the local market.
Even more telling are the figures from the recent Chainalysis 2025 Global Adoption Index report: over the annual period from July 2024 to June 2025, South Korea ranked second in the volume of cryptocurrency transactions — $1 trillion. Only the USA surpassed it with a result of $4.2 trillion.
