Key Takeaways:
South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange, Upbit, is preparing to step into blockchain development with a mysterious new project called “Giwa.” The teaser has triggered intense speculation in the crypto community, with full details set to emerge at the Upbit Developer Conference (UDC).
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Upbit quietly launched a Giwa teaser website featuring a live countdown and the tagline “trusted structure, not just shape.” While sparse on details, the site links directly to UDC, where industry watchers expect a formal presentation.
The move signals Upbit’s push to go beyond its role as South Korea’s largest exchange – one that often moves markets with its token listings and build infrastructure at the protocol level.
So far, Upbit has not confirmed whether Giwa will be a Layer-1 (L1) blockchain or a Layer-2 (L2) scaling network. However, early hints and regulatory factors suggest an L2 design is more likely.
Analysts consider that Giwa may form a stablecoin liquidity platform of South Korea. The purpose of the won-pegged digital assets has been growing in demand, driven by retail usage and institutional interest in regulated Web3 rails.
Should Giwa offer a safe and interoperable system to issue and redeem stablecoins, it would transform the place of South Korea in the crypto liquidity of the region. This would also be in line with the global trends, of exchanges having their own proprietary blockchain, to manage their liquidity and user interaction.
The entry is timed with the increasing pace of crypto adoption in South Korea which has high trading volumes and retail-based markets. Already, exchanges such as Upbit command a lot of power – token listings often result in dramatic price changes.
By introducing its own blockchain, Upbit could:
This strategy mirrors moves by Binance (BNB Chain) and Coinbase (Base L2), both of which leveraged blockchain launches to expand beyond trading.
South Korea is very strict in regards to crypto platforms. Regulatory requirements could make regulating at the L2 structure rather than a complete L1 blockchain, and thus Giwa will be easier to integrate into existing infrastructure.
An L2 solution would similarly make Giwa an Ethereum-scaling solution or a comparable base chain, with the advantage of security but with more affordable and quicker transactions.
It will be important to the observers that interoperability will be central. To be successful, Giwa should not only appeal to the Korean users, but also need to integrate itself with the international liquidity pools.
The Giwa teaser, in spite of the little information available, has become a source of intense discussions in the crypto forums and social media. A large number of traders are optimistic about the blockchain of Upbit establishing new liquidity lines, and possibly affecting the prices of tokens in the exchange.
Crypto observers equate this expectation to the hype of Base, the L2 by Coinbase introduced in 2023 that rapidly emerged as a significant point of liquidity. Provided that Upbit adopts the same approach, Giwa will potentially become one of the key drivers of the future of Web3 in South Korea.
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Everybody now looks forward to the Upbit Developer Conference, where Giwa design, technical features, and ecosystem roadmap will most probably be announced. To that point, speculation persists, with ideas of both stablecoin-centric infrastructure and a wider Korean crypto hub.
Whatever form it takes, Giwa represents one of the most significant blockchain developments in South Korea’s digital asset market this year.
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