Upbit's Parent Company Files Trademark for 'GIWA', Sparking Rumors of a New Blockchain Project

Dunamu, the parent company of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has submitted multiple trademark applications for 'GIWA', a name that is rumored to be associated with a new blockchain initiative. The trademark filings, which have been circulating on social media, include stylized lettering alongside a potential logo for the project. The speculation surrounding GIWA originated on a microblogging platform, where a user claimed that a friend attending the Upbit Developer Conference heard that the blockchain would be a standalone network. Although several posts have fueled the rumors, neither Upbit nor its parent company Dunamu has made an official confirmation. A website linked to the rumored blockchain, GIWA, is currently live and features a countdown suggesting an announcement may be made soon. The countdown is accompanied by the text 'Coming soon' and coincides with the Upbit Developer Conference, scheduled to take place on September 9 in Seoul, South Korea. Several other cryptocurrency exchanges have launched their own blockchain networks, including Coinbase's layer-2 Base, OKX's OKChain, and Binance's initial support for the BSC Chain, which was later rebranded to BNB Chain. More recently, Stripe and Paradigm introduced Tempo, a blockchain designed for high-speed stablecoin payments, with backing from prominent partners such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Revolut, and Deutsche Bank. Upbit appears to have confirmed the launch of a GIWA Chain and an accompanying GIWA Wallet, with CEO Kyungseok Oh set to unveil both during the event. According to Dunamu's public relations department, GIWA stands for 'Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access', aiming to simplify access to Web3 infrastructure. The company hopes that domestic developers will create various blockchain services on the GIWA Chain, entering the Web3 ecosystem and contributing to both the domestic blockchain ecosystem and the global Web3 industry. The GIWA Chain is a Layer-2 blockchain network based on the Optimistic Rollup architecture, while the GIWA Wallet is integrated with the GIWA Chain and will support Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, Avalanche, and Arbitrum, in addition to the network.