Upbit Parent Files ‘GIWA’ Trademarks Amid Rumors of New Blockchain Launch

What to know:

• Dunamu, the parent company of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, has filed trademark applications for a new blockchain project called "GIWA", sparking rumors of its own network.
• A website tied to the name of the project is live, featuring a countdown suggesting an announcement could be made within the next few hours, coinciding with the Upbit Developer Conference (UDC).
• The move follows other crypto exchanges backing their own blockchain networks, such as Coinbase's Base, OKX's OKChain, and Binance's BNB Chain, with GIWA potentially being a similar initiative.

The parent company of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, Dunamu, has filed several trademark applications for what is rumored to be a new blockchain project under the name “GIWA.”

The rumors seem to have originated on microblogging platform X, where one user commented that a friend attending the Upbit Developer Conference (UDC) heard the blockchain is going to be its own blockchain network.

Since then, several posts have amplified the rumors, yet no official confirmation has come from Upbit or its parent company Dunamu.

A website tied to the name of the rumored blockchain, GIWA, is already live and currently features a countdown suggesting that the network could be announced within the next few hours. The countdown appears below text that reads “Coming soon.” The countdown coincides with UDC going live, as the event is scheduled for Sept. 9 in Seoul, South Korea.

Several other cryptocurrency exchanges have backed their own blockchain networks. These include Coinbase’s layer-2 Base, OKX’s OKChain, Binance’s initial support for the BSC Chain, which later rebranded to BNB Chain, and others.

More recently, Stripe and Paradigm unveiled Tempo, a blockchain for high-speed stablecoin payments. The project is backed by a list of heavyweight partners, which include Anthropic, OpenAI, Revolut, and Deutsche Bank.

Upbit has seemingly confirmed the launch of a GIWA Chain and an accompanying GIWA Wallet. An email shared with CoinDesk in Korean says CEO Kyungseok Oh will unveil both during the event.

In a follow-up, Dunamu's public relations department added GIWA stands for "Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access," and that through it Dunamu aims to simplify access to Web3 infrastructure.

"Dunamu hopes that more domestic developers will create various blockchain services on GIWA Chain, enter the Web3 ecosystem, and not be left out of the global market. Furthermore, Dunamu expects this to contribute both to the domestic blockchain ecosystem and to the global Web3 industry," the email reads.

GIWA Chain is a Layer-2 blockchain network based on Otpimistic Rollup architecture. GIWA Wallet, meanwhile, is integrated with the GIWA Chain. It'll support Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, Avalanche, and Arbitrum as well as the network.

Update: Article upate with information on Upbit CEO Kyungseok Oh unveiling GIWA Wallet and GIWA Chain shared via email.