Upbit Unveils Ethereum Layer 2 ‘GIWA’ To Compete In Infrastructure Race

Upbit, South Korea’s largest exchange by volume, confirmed plans on Tuesday to launch its own Ethereum Layer 2 network, GIWA, as part of a broader infrastructure push, a month after trademark filings hinted at the project.

Shortly before the confirmation, Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok teased details of the project in a keynote speech at the Upbit Developer Conference, saying South Korea “can aggressively compete in the global financial infrastructure race, extending beyond Asia,” according to a rough translation of a company tweet.

Citing the approval of the first U.S. Bitcoin ETF last year and the signing of landmark stablecoin legislation into law, Oh added that digital assets are “not a bubble but the result of evolution.”

While blockchain development has advanced in markets like the U.S. and Singapore, “the Korean market remains largely sidelined,” a representative for the company told Decrypt. 

“Dunamu hopes that more domestic developers will build innovative blockchain services on GIWA, enter the Web3 ecosystem, and avoid being excluded from the global market,” the representative said.

GIWA will follow a phased decentralization roadmap, with stablecoin plans dependent on pending Korean regulation, Decrypt was told. The network is designed to offer scalability through Optimistic Rollups, privacy features with verified liquidity from Upbit’s market data, and a mobile wallet for assets, NFTs, and dApps. 

The confirmation follows trademark filings on August 8 from Dunamu Inc., the operator behind Upbit. A Sepolia testnet for the layer-2 chain is now live.

“Although still in testnet, Giwa represents an important step in expanding opportunities for both Korean and global builders,” Rei Nam, chief technology officer at Lambda256, Dunamu’s blockchain technology arm and subsidiary, told Decrypt, adding that their team has supported “Giwa Chain from its earliest stage,” to help “new services and ideas emerge from it.”

Diversification play

GIWA is built on Optimism’s OP Stack, with its public testnet targeting one-second block times. A dedicated GIWA Wallet application is in development, per details on its official documentation.

Analysts say the network’s design raises familiar questions around centralization.

Like Coinbase’s Base, GIWA is expected to begin with a single sequencer under operator control, a model that can give exchanges significant influence over transaction ordering and potential maximal extractable value (MEV) capture. 

In Ethereum-based Layer 2 networks, a sequencer orders transactions, groups them into batches, and submits them back to Ethereum for settlement. 

Earlier this month, a regulatory report cautioned that exchange-operated Layer 2 networks could in practice function as trading venues, raising questions over whether similar scrutiny may extend to Asia.

Similar to Upbit, large exchanges such as Coinbase in the U.S. also have “centralized sequencer issues,” Jay Jo, senior analyst at Seoul-based Tiger Research, told Decrypt. “Both Coinbase and Upbit focus more on financial infrastructure innovation and utility than decentralization. They’ll likely operate similarly.”

“Sure, Upbit tried diversifying with Levvels, NFTs, and overseas exchanges in Thailand and Indonesia. Most failed,” he said.

Still, even if those have failed and regulatory risks exist, Upbit “operates under the direct supervision of Korean authorities,” Jo said, noting that the crypto exchange had likely reached some agreements with regulators before moving forward with GIWA.

Given this, Upbit would need “growth drivers since domestic volumes declined after 2021 and competition keeps intensifying,” he said, adding that fee-based models have clear limits, because previous attempts at revenue diversification have failed to deliver.

Building its own chain could leverage its advantages, Jo said, pointing to a “massive user base and liquidity” for Upbit.

“This might be their most realistic diversification play.”