Korea Enters the Rollup Race: Upbit’s Parent Company Unveils GIWA Chain

Dunamu, the Seoul-based company behind South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has officially introduced its new Web3 infrastructure brand “GIWA.”

The announcement was made during the Upbit Developer Conference (UDC) in Seoul, where Dunamu detailed how GIWA aims to expand blockchain accessibility for developers and users both locally and globally.

GIWA chain and wallet rollout

At the heart of the new brand is GIWA Chain, a layer-2 blockchain built on Optimistic Rollup technology. Designed to scale efficiently, the chain supports smart contract-based applications and is currently available on testnet.

Dunamu likened its design to traditional Korean roof tiles, or giwa, which interlock to create durability. In the same way, GIWA Chain is intended to securely “stack” data while supporting the growth of decentralized apps.

Alongside the chain, Dunamu also unveiled the GIWA Wallet, a mobile app for digital asset storage and transfers. The wallet already supports transactions across multiple chains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, Avalanche, and its own GIWA Chain.

While only available for demo use during UDC, Dunamu confirmed that full blockchain support will be rolled out over time. An official launch date for the wallet has not yet been announced.

Positioning Korea in the global web3 arena

With GIWA, Dunamu is positioning itself as a homegrown alternative to the dominance of U.S. and Singapore-based blockchain ecosystems.

The firm stated its goal is to encourage more Korean developers to explore and build within Web3, supported by localized infrastructure that meets both domestic and international needs.

The project had already generated speculation in the weeks leading up to UDC, with trademark applications hinting at the GIWA brand and an official website going live ahead of the announcement.

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