Upbit Launches Giwa Testnet to Expand Role in South Korea’s Web3 Growth

Highlights:

• Upbit controls most of South Korea’s crypto market with $2.5 billion traded daily and is now expanding into Web3.
• Upbit launches Giwa testnet with one-second block times and Ethereum compatibility for faster blockchain use.
• South Korea ranked second globally in crypto activity with $1 trillion in volume in the last year.

Upbit, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, introduced its new blockchain, Giwa, at the Upbit D Conference. The exchange described Giwa as “Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access,” highlighting its goal of making blockchain use simple and engaging.

South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit has unveiled its own blockchain GIWA (Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access). Built on OP Stack as an Ethereum Layer 2, GIWA targets lowering Web3 entry barriers with features such as 1-second block times and full EVM compatibility,… pic.twitter.com/28rPO5SJGj

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 9, 2025

The network is based on the OP Stack offered by the Optimism Foundation, which is aimed at enhancing the scale and performance. Giwa keeps Ethereum’s settlement security in place while running at near-real-time transaction speeds and block times of one second.

The Giwa Sepolia testnet, which includes developer tools, is up and running at the moment. The tools let developers migrate Ethereum-based smart contracts without major changes and deploy builders quickly. An official block explorer is tracking activity on the testnet as well. The history on the GitHub account of Giwa reveals that there has been gradual development. The repository already reflects more than four million blocks added, suggesting that Giwa operated before its public reveal at the conference.

Upbit Launches Giwa to Strengthen Role in Web3 Market

The move makes Upbit one of the exchanges that diversified into blockchain development. Coinbase released Base in 2023, and Binance released BNB Chain in 2019. OKX has also developed OKChain, which demonstrates a tendency within the industry.

The exchange processes around $2.5 billion in daily trading volume and controls roughly 73% of South Korea’s crypto market. Upbit is planning to go beyond trading services into a wider Web3 infrastructure with Giwa. According to Chainalysis, South Korea has the second-best crypto on-ramp globally from July 2024 to June 2025. The country has a $1 trillion volume, coming in second only to the United States at $4.2 trillion. This environment puts Giwa in a good position to be adopted locally.

🌎 Which country leads as a fiat on-ramp, and which holds 🪙 bitcoin dominance?

Find out in our Chainalysis 2025 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, live now: https://t.co/4pyskMVRHD

Keep a 👀 lookout for the regional chapters as we take a dive into adoption trends from… pic.twitter.com/f7HAJuQ5U4

— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) September 9, 2025

 

Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit, got ready to launch Giwa by registering a trademark. The company also developed anticipation by hosting a public countdown before the Upbit Developer Conference. At the event, Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok said Giwa would support financial use cases, including a Korean won stablecoin. His remarks aligned with national initiatives to develop a market for local currency tokens.

Cultural Symbolism and Development Path for Giwa

The name Giwa is directly related to the heritage of South Korea. Giwa are traditional curved roof tiles, which are usually used on palaces and hanok houses and symbolize both defense and identity. This metaphor supports the local base of blockchain.

The Giwa Wallet is a wallet system that the new blockchain is currently developing. Another product Dunamu intends to launch is Giwa ID, a Soulbound Token that connects authenticated identities to digital wallets. The ID feature is not transferable and has a 90-day grace period for verification adjustments.

The company has not verified a mainnet timeline, but the development of the testnet hints at active progress. The flexibility of Giwa also guarantees that it will adjust to the changes in the Optimism OP Stack and make sure that the blockchain is kept up to date. With the release of Giwa, Upbit made clear its plans to gain presence in the Web3 industry in South Korea. The exchange is now integrated with global counterparts in establishing networks beyond trading, and it positions itself as a key player in blockchain development.