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South Korea's largest crypto exchange Upbit has partnered with the Optimism Foundation to launch a new Ethereum Layer 2 called GIWA Chain, becoming the first client on Optimism's newly formalised "Self-Managed" enterprise tier. Under the arrangement, Upbit will operate its own rollup sequencer while Optimism provides technical support, a failover safety net, and ongoing monitoring. The chain is currently live on testnet, with the companies signing a memorandum of understanding to formalise the institutional-grade backup arrangement.
Why it matters
The launch reframes Optimism's enterprise pitch around ownership rather than tenancy. "What we hear consistently from the largest exchanges and institutional operators is that they want to own the chain their users transact on, not rent it," said Jing Wang, Optimism Foundation director. Self-Managed sits above the existing "Fully Managed" tier, in which Optimism runs the sequencer, controls configuration, and holds operational authority — fine for crypto-native projects, but a non-starter for regulated venues.
Upbit claims more than 13 million registered users and has ranked as high as No. 2 globally by cumulative spot trading volume on CoinGecko. "At that size, the math stops working for renting someone else's infrastructure," Optimism wrote in its blog post. The sequencer matters on two axes for an operator of that scale: it determines which transactions land in each block (relevant for compliance) and captures the fees users generate, making it a meaningful revenue line.
Market impact
GIWA Chain joins roughly three dozen networks already running on the OP Stack, including Coinbase's Base, Kraken's Ink, Uniswap's Unichain, World, Zora, and Sony's Soneium. Most of those operator-controlled chains already run their own sequencers in practice; Self-Managed simply packages the arrangement as a formal, supported tier with a contractual safety net — failover sequencer, priority patches, and dedicated guidance.
The Superchain economics still apply: independent OP Stack chains that share interoperability and infrastructure pay a small percentage of sequencer revenue back to the Optimism Collective.
Frequently asked questions
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What is GIWA Chain?
GIWA Chain is an Ethereum Layer 2 network built by South Korea's largest crypto exchange Upbit using the Optimism Foundation's OP Stack. It is the first client on Optimism's newly formalised "Self-Managed" enterprise tier, meaning Upbit operates its own rollup sequencer while Optimism provides technical support and a…
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Why did Upbit choose Optimism's Self-Managed tier instead of Fully Managed?
Self-Managed lets Upbit keep operational control of the sequencer that sequences transactions into blocks and captures user fees. Under Fully Managed, Optimism itself runs the sequencer, controls configuration, and holds operational authority — workable for crypto-native projects but a non-starter for a regulated…
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How many users does Upbit serve and how big is it globally?
Upbit claims more than 13 million registered users and has ranked as high as No. 2 globally by cumulative spot trading volume on CoinGecko's rankings. That scale is the basis for Optimism's framing that, at Upbit's size, "the math stops working for renting someone else's infrastructure."
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What does the Optimism Foundation provide under the Self-Managed tier?
Under the memorandum of understanding, Optimism supplies an institutional-grade "safety net" for Upbit: monitoring, a failover sequencer, priority patches, and ongoing technical guidance. Upbit runs the sequencer itself; Optimism acts as the backup operator rather than the primary one.
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Which other major companies use the OP Stack for their own chains?
Roughly three dozen networks already run on the OP Stack, including Coinbase's Base, Kraken's Ink, Uniswap's Unichain, World, Zora, and Sony's Soneium. Most of those operator-controlled chains already run their own sequencers; Self-Managed packages that arrangement as a formal, supported tier.
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