South Korea’s Upbit has partnered with Optimism to develop a dedicated Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain using the OP Stack.
Summary
- Upbit has partnered with Optimism to build GIWA Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 where the exchange will run its own infrastructure under the Self Managed OP Enterprise tier.
- Optimism said the setup allows Upbit to retain sequencer control, which determines transaction ordering and captures fees, while receiving technical support and failover safeguards.
According to an announcement from the Optimism Foundation, the new network, called GIWA Chain, will operate under the Self-Managed tier of OP Enterprise, allowing Upbit to run the chain independently while receiving technical support from the foundation.
Positioning control over infrastructure as a key requirement, Jing Wang, director at the Optimism Foundation, said institutional operators prefer owning the chains their users interact with rather than relying on third-party infrastructure. The Self-Managed model addresses that preference by placing operational responsibility, including sequencer control, directly with the chain operator.
Upbit takes full control of sequencer operations
Under the structure outlined by Optimism, Upbit will operate its own sequencer, which determines how transactions are ordered and included in blocks. The Optimism Foundation explained that sequencers also generate revenue by collecting transaction fees, making them both a compliance and business-critical component.
In a blog post, Optimism stated that regulated exchanges serving institutional clients cannot relinquish such control, adding that giving up sequencer authority was not considered viable for Upbit’s use case. The foundation contrasted this setup with fully managed deployments, where it operates the sequencer and retains configuration control.
Handling the operational load remains a challenge for single operators, according to the same blog, which noted that maintaining uninterrupted service for millions of users requires resilient infrastructure. To address that risk, the companies signed a memorandum of understanding that includes monitoring systems, a failover sequencer, priority updates, and technical guidance as part of what Optimism described as an institutional-grade safety framework.
GIWA Chain has already gone live on testnet, according to the announcement, and is expected to support Upbit’s expanding blockchain-based financial services. Earlier developments involving Dunamu provide additional context for that direction.
On April 29, Dunamu signed a trilateral agreement with Hana Financial Group and POSCO International to deploy a blockchain remittance system using GIWA Chain. The companies stated that the system would move from testing to real transaction processing, with POSCO International applying it to cross-border trade payments.
Results from the earlier proof-of-concept, disclosed by Hana Financial Group and Dunamu, showed that blockchain infrastructure could reduce settlement time and costs compared with the traditional SWIFT system, where messaging and settlement occur separately. The firms said combining those steps enables real-time remittance processing.
POSCO International President Lee Gye-in said the agreement established a foundation for long-term partnerships in digital finance, while the companies aim to finalize a working model for real-time remittances later this year based on live transaction data.
OP Stack ecosystem continues to expand
Optimism has already supported blockchain deployments for firms including Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap, as well as projects such as World and Zora.
Many of these networks operate within the Superchain framework, where independent chains share interoperability standards and contribute a portion of sequencer revenue to the Optimism Collective while maintaining operational independence.
Although the Self-Managed tier is newly introduced, Optimism clarified that several existing OP Stack chains, including Base, have historically controlled their own sequencers. Earlier this year, Base, developed by Coinbase, announced plans to migrate to a unified in-house stack, reinforcing a trend toward greater operational independence among large operators.
With more than 13 million registered users and past rankings placing it among the top global exchanges by spot trading volume, according to CoinGecko, Upbit’s scale has influenced its decision to build and control its own infrastructure, as noted by Optimism in its announcement.
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