Korea’s leading centralized exchange is bringing its users onchain.
UpBit, the top centralized exchange (CEX) by volume in South Korea, unveiled its own native Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain today, dubbed GIWA.
GIWA, or Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access, leverages the Optimism (OP) stack.
The name GIWA is also a reference to a common roof tile used in Korean architecture, and “are a symbol of scalability and solidarity, small on their own but powerful when combined,” per the GIWA docs.
Network fees will be denominated in ETH, and the chain’s testnet is live, touting one-second block times, EVM compatibility, and open public availability. In the future, GIWA plans to provide a beginner-friendly interface where users can interact onchain without having to understand the concepts of different blockchains, tokenization, or gas fees.
The launch comes less than four months after South Korea implemented strict know-your-customer (KYC) requirements for its CEXs, per its Financial Services Commission (FSC), and while it appears users will not have to KYC to use GIWA, the network will feature an onchain verification system for institutional clients.
While the Korean audience’s appetite for onchain trading will be tested with GIWA, the country is well known in crypto for its tendency to send new altcoin listings soaring.
Over the summer, UpBit and Bithumb listings sent notable tokens such as SYRUP, MOODENG, and HYPER up anywhere from 30% to 500% within 48 hours of their listing on Korean CEXs.
