Dunamu, the Seoul-based fintech company that operates South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, tapped the Optimism Foundation to power and extend the GIWA Chain using OP Stack and integrate it into Optimism’s OP Enterprise Framework.
Announced last September, GIWA Chain is an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain focused on improving usability and accessibility on Web3.
The network delivers fast performance with 1-second block times, supports existing Ethereum-based development through EVM compatibility, and benefits from continuous upgrades via an open source ecosystem led by the Optimism Foundation.
The chain is already live on testnet, with almost 100 million transactions processed as of May 3, and is expected to launch on mainnet soon.
Pursuant to a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding between Dunamu and the Optimism Foundation. GIWA Chain is expected to be the first introduction to the self-managed tier of OP Enterprise, a framework built for operators who want full control over their blockchain environments.
In this structure, Upbit controls the primary sequencer and all core networking decisions, while Optimism provides institutional-level support such as system monitoring and a backup sequencer for failover.
“Operating our own GIWA Chain is a strategic move for Upbit. Our goal is to provide our institutional and retail users with a level of performance and compliance that matches our existing platform,” said Dunamu Chief Operating Officer Minseok Jeong, noting that Optimism Foundation’s self-managed tier allows the company to maintain operational control while building a proven infrastructure to support their scalability and governance needs.
Upbit serves over 13 million registered users. According to CoinGecko data, the exchange ranked second in the world by cumulative spot trading volume from 2020 to 2024.
“What we consistently hear from the largest exchanges and institutional investors is that they want to own rather than rent the chains their users trade on,” said Jing Wang, director of the Optimism Foundation.
“Upbit going live with OP Enterprise Self-Managed is a clear signal about where the industry is going. It also says something about where trust is going. An operator of Upbit’s size is not going to build on an infrastructure that hasn’t yet been proven to hold its weight,” he said.
Dunamu launched Upbit in 2017 and quickly grew to become South Korea’s top exchange. The company is in the process of merging with Naver Financial, and initially aimed to complete the merger in 2026, creating a large fintech company worth approximately 20 trillion Korean won (approximately $13.5 billion), but regulatory delays delayed the shareholder vote and the merger was not completed until the second half of 2026.
If the deal goes through, GIWA will be positioned as the backbone of a large fintech ecosystem, with plans already underway to integrate the Korean won-backed stablecoin into real-world payments.
