South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, has surprised the industry by launching its own Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain called Giwa. The announcement was made at the Upbit D Conference 2025, signaling the exchange’s ambition to move beyond trading into blockchain infrastructure.

Giwa, short for Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access, is built on the Optimism Foundation’s OP Stack. It boasts one-second block times while settling transactions securely on Ethereum. According to Giwa’s documentation, the project aims to make Web3 “easy and fun for everyone.” Developers can already test on Giwa Sepolia, the project’s testnet, which supports Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible contracts and includes a live block explorer tracking activity.

The launch places Upbit in line with other major exchanges that have introduced their own blockchains, such as Coinbase with Base and Binance with BNB Chain. Outside of crypto, tech giants like Google, Stripe, and Sony have also announced blockchain initiatives in 2025.

Giwa is designed for speed and flexibility, with customization possible as the OP Stack evolves. Its GitHub activity shows development has been underway for weeks, with over four million blocks already processed. The name “Giwa” references the traditional curved roof tiles used in Korean palaces and temples, symbolizing heritage and protection.

Upbit currently dominates the South Korean crypto market, handling about 73% of domestic trading volume. CoinGecko data shows it ranked 20th globally with $2.5 billion in trading volume over the last 24 hours. South Korea itself has become a global crypto leader, ranking second in Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Adoption Index with $1 trillion in on-ramp volume, behind only the United States.

While no date has been set for the Giwa mainnet launch, Upbit’s bold move positions it as a serious player in shaping the next wave of Web3 adoption.