Asia-Pacific enterprises are moving past the question of whether blockchain works and into deciding where it fits in their core business. From Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities’ Zipangcoin on OP Mainnet to Sony Block Solutions Labs’ Soneium and Upbit operator Dunamu’s planned GIWA Chain, a wave of established consumer and financial platforms is building on the OP Stack. Juntaro Iwase, Managing Director for Japan and Southeast Asia at OP Labs, spoke with blockchainreporter about what’s driving this shift, how OP Enterprise addresses regulatory and operational demands, and why distribution — not just technology — is APAC’s biggest advantage.

The clearest difference is posture. Many APAC enterprises are no longer asking whether blockchain works. They are asking where it belongs in their core business. The recent examples speak for themselves. Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities launched Zipangcoin on OP Mainnet. Sony Block Solutions Labs built Soneium for consumer and creator applications. Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, plans to use the OP Stack for GIWA Chain, and Toss has announced a proof of concept exploring a Korean won-backed stablecoin.

Europe and the U.S. are progressing too, as Kraken’s Ink and Bitpanda’s Vision Chain demonstrate. What stands out in APAC is the combination of large consumer platforms, digitally sophisticated users, and companies with the distribution to bring onchain products to millions of customers who already trust them.

Enterprises are not choosing an Ethereum L2 for scalability alone. They evaluate the full solution, including the infrastructure, the operating model, the ecosystem, and whether they can integrate the tools their business requires.

Those requirements differ by company. Toss is running a proof of concept on the OP Stack alongside KYC and AML infrastructure and Privacy Boost from Sunnyside Labs. GIWA Chain plans to use the Self-Managed tier of OP Enterprise so Upbit can retain control over its sequencer and configuration while receiving engineering support and backup resilience. Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities launched Zipangcoin on OP Mainnet, which it has said supports its plans to reach investors worldwide.

The common thread is choice. Companies can build on an established public network or deploy dedicated infrastructure, and in either case work with the compliance, custody, monitoring, and privacy providers appropriate for their business.

Regulated institutions open with questions about accountability, data visibility, operational control, and how blockchain fits into their existing systems. Public blockchains are transparent by default. If a financial product requires transaction details or customer balances to remain confidential, an additional privacy layer may be needed. Institutions may also need KYC, AML, transaction monitoring, custody, permissioning, and reporting tools. A blockchain infrastructure provider does not replace those functions or determine whether a product is compliant. Our role is to provide reliable infrastructure, clear operating models, and the technical integration points needed to work with specialist providers.

The Toss proof of concept demonstrates this layered approach. The OP Stack provides the blockchain infrastructure, Sunnyside Labs provides Privacy Boost, and separate KYC and AML infrastructure supports the compliance requirements. Each layer is handled by the party best equipped to handle it.

The hardest part of enterprise blockchain adoption is often not launching the technology. It is establishing an operating model that can support a critical business. Organizations need to know who runs the infrastructure, who responds when something breaks, how upgrades are managed, and how the network fits their internal security and procurement processes.

OP Enterprise is designed around those operational requirements. Companies can use a Fully Managed model or operate the infrastructure themselves through Self-Managed with direct engineering support. They can also begin on OP Mainnet before deciding whether they need a dedicated chain. The organization chooses the level of operational responsibility and control that fits its capabilities, and can change that answer as it matures.

Soneium shows how blockchain can support consumer experiences without requiring users to understand the technology underneath. Built by Sony Block Solutions Labs using the OP Stack, Soneium gives developers an Ethereum-compatible foundation for entertainment, gaming, creator, and community applications.

Sony has described its goal as making blockchain operate quietly behind the scenes while enabling trust, traceability, digital ownership, and clearer attribution of creative work. For creators and fans, this can support new ways to participate and collaborate, while the OP Stack provides the scalable infrastructure underneath those experiences. That philosophy of keeping the technology in the background and the experience in the foreground is exactly how consumer adoption happens in this region.

Upbit’s decision to develop the GIWA Chain reflects a broader shift in how major exchanges think about infrastructure. They increasingly want to own the infrastructure through which their users access onchain products. A dedicated chain can provide greater control over performance, transaction policies, user experience, product development, and the economics generated by the ecosystem.

Under the planned partnership between Dunamu and the Optimism Foundation, GIWA Chain intends to become the first chain on the Self-Managed tier of OP Enterprise. Upbit would retain control over the primary sequencer and configuration, while Optimism would provide monitoring, engineering support, and backup resilience.

APAC’s biggest advantage is distribution. Sony, Upbit, Toss, and Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities already have established brands, customers, and business relationships. They do not need to build an audience from zero. The challenge is turning blockchain infrastructure into a reliable and sustainable business. Regulations differ across Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and other markets. Companies must also integrate blockchain with existing systems and work with the appropriate providers across custody, identity, monitoring, privacy, and liquidity.

In my experience, local system integrators and trusted vendor relationships also play a major role in markets such as Japan. Technology matters, but local operational credibility often determines whether a project reaches production.

Native interoperability is still in development. Today, OP Chains rely on existing bridges and messaging solutions to connect across networks. The longer-term objective is to make participating OP Chains work more like a connected ecosystem. Assets and information could move between them more easily, allowing companies to operate dedicated infrastructure without creating completely isolated networks. This could be particularly valuable in APAC, where products often launch for a domestic market but may later seek international users, applications, and liquidity. 

The OP Stack was designed for the performance, reliability, and flexibility that enterprises require as blockchain moves into production. Its modular architecture allows organizations to tailor infrastructure to their specific operational needs while continuing to benefit from Ethereum’s security and ongoing innovation.

The proof is in production. More than 50 chains run on the OP Stack today, including networks built by Sony, Uniswap, OKX, and Kraken. Rather than building and maintaining a blockchain from scratch, enterprises can deploy infrastructure that has been proven at scale, reducing technical complexity while supporting high transaction volumes and long-term growth.

Every regulated institution operates under different legal and operational requirements, and those requirements vary meaningfully across APAC jurisdictions. Rather than imposing a single deployment model, OP Enterprise gives institutions the flexibility to configure infrastructure according to their specific needs, including how the chain is operated, who controls the sequencer, and which compliance, custody, and privacy providers are integrated.

That flexibility supports institutions in meeting their own regulatory obligations in their own jurisdictions, while still benefiting from the Ethereum ecosystem’s security and innovation. Compliance decisions remain with the institution and its advisors, and the infrastructure supports a range of deployment and integration requirements.

The Self-Managed tier reflects a consistent request from large financial institutions. They want the ability to control their own blockchain infrastructure without taking on the burden of building everything themselves.

For regulated institutions, the appeal is programmable financial infrastructure that combines operational sovereignty, direct control, and dedicated engineering support. The institution decides how the infrastructure is operated, secured, and integrated with its existing systems, while drawing on proven technology underneath. For many APAC institutions, that combination is what finally moves blockchain from the innovation lab into the infrastructure roadmap.

APAC has become one of the strongest examples of how blockchain is evolving into enterprise infrastructure. Activity across finance, payments, consumer technology, and entertainment shows that adoption is no longer limited to crypto-native companies.

Across the region, organizations are deploying or exploring the OP Stack, OP Mainnet, and OP Enterprise. In doing so, they are helping define what enterprise adoption could look like at global scale.

Over the next twelve months, I expect the question in APAC boardrooms to shift from “should we pilot this” to “which of our products goes onchain.” The companies with distribution, regulatory discipline, and the right infrastructure partners will be best positioned to answer it.

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