South Korea’s Upbit Launches Game-Changing Ethereum Layer-2 Blockchain Giwa

Upbit just dropped a nuclear option on Ethereum's scaling debate—and traditional finance should be sweating.

The Scaling Revolution Hits Mainstream

South Korea's largest crypto exchange isn't just listing tokens anymore—it's building the infrastructure. Giwa Layer-2 promises to slash Ethereum's notorious gas fees while maintaining full security—a move that could finally bring institutional players off the sidelines.

Why This Changes Everything

Upbit controls nearly 80% of South Korea's crypto market. When they launch infrastructure this significant, it's not an experiment—it's market-making. Traditional finance keeps trying to build private blockchains while real innovation happens in public view.

The Bottom Line

Wall Street still thinks 'blockchain not Bitcoin' was a clever strategy—meanwhile, actual financial infrastructure is being built by crypto natives. Giwa isn't just another scaling solution—it's a declaration that the future of finance won't be built by committees in boardrooms.

Upbit Leads South Korea’s Crypto Scene

Upbit is a major crypto exchange in  South Korea and handles about 73% of local trading. According to CoinGecko, it ranks as the world’s 20th largest exchange, with $2.5 billion traded in the past 24 hours.

According to Chainalysis, South Korea is now the second-largest crypto market by on-ramp volume between July 2024 and June 2025.  It recorded $1 trillion in volume, behind only the U.S. at $4.2 trillion.

In recent months, South Korea’s Upbit has been actively expanding its listings, adding tokens like Maple Finance (SYRUP), Huma Finance (HUMA), Moodeng (MOODENG), Ravencoin (RVN), DEEP Token, Filecoin (FIL), ORCA, Bitcoin Gold (BTG), and Moca Token (MOCA) across KRW, BTC, and USDT trading pairs.

Other major exchanges have also launched their own blockchains. Coinbase rolled out Base in 2023, and Binance launched BNB Chain back in 2019. Several tech giants have also moved into blockchain. Last year, Sony launched its layer-2 chain Soneium, and last month Stripe rolled out its layer-1 chain Tempo. Further, Google Cloud is developing its own layer-1 chain called Universal Ledger (GCUL).