Uniswap Achieves $4 Billion in Swaps on Mobile App
Uniswap has reached a significant milestone of $4 billion in swaps through its mobile app. While decentralized trading still pales in comparison to the volumes seen on major exchanges, it has played a crucial role in the growth of the crypto and DeFi infrastructure, offering easily accessible swaps.
The potential for borderless and permissionless swaps has made Uniswap a popular choice for traders. Although Uniswap has introduced an optional Know Your Customer (KYC) screening feature, some trading pairs can still be accessed without this process. The Uniswap web app also provides limit orders, simulating centralized trading and automating decision-making.
In addition to Ethereum, Uniswap is available on over seven leading L1 blockchains, where it hosts newly minted tokens. Some of the most active chains include Arbitrum, Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, XDAI, Optimism, and Polygon.
The Uniswap team claims that its high liquidity and leading position enable the decentralized exchange (DEX) to offer superior swaps compared to price aggregators.
For wallet holders using the web app, Uniswap offers easier swapping by allowing them to switch between different wallets and networks. The Uniswap team is also actively adding new features, with 53 weekly commits to the codebase.
Uniswap Teases L3 Assets
Uniswap has sent out a cryptic message that suggests the exchange may support L3 assets in some form.
Layer 3, or L3, has emerged as a term for restaking tokens or other assets by locking ETH as collateral. The definition of an L3 asset is not clear-cut, as most restaking protocols initially started as tokenless projects.
However, some of these projects rewarded points or other placeholder balances. Restaking protocols are now setting the stage for the launch of a new wave of tokens and a new level of decentralized complexity.
The coming months may see the L3 trend on Ethereum come to fruition. Uniswap also faces the challenge of accommodating Bitcoin-based DeFi and tokens.
Which Layer 3 Will Uniswap Embrace?
Uniswap has not explicitly stated whether it will list a specific Layer 3 project or simply facilitate liquidity building for a range of new tokens. The most likely candidate, however, is Layer3XYZ, which is gearing up to launch its native asset this summer.
Layer3XYZ already aggregates L3 and restaking protocols, making the process more seamless. In the L3 ecosystem, earning points and keeping track of gains can be challenging, especially with the launch of multiple restaking pools and hubs.
Layer3XYZ aims to capture the entire L3 ecosystem in a single native token, which will be introduced soon.
L3 gained traction following the success of EigenLayer, a leader in restaked ETH tokens and point-based rewards. Currently, there is no definitive list of reward platforms on EigenLayer, and it remains uncertain which ones will be ready to launch tokens.
Uniswap Maintains DEX Dominance
Uniswap continues to contribute to the usage of Ethereum’s blockchain and remains one of the most popular decentralized exchanges (DEX). Gas fees paid in a month serve as an indicator of Uniswap’s usage. The exchange facilitates both user-generated transactions and MEV bots that optimize swaps.
Uniswap leads the pack in terms of daily trades and total value locked. Despite the slower DeFi season compared to 2021, Uniswap still has $5.36 billion in value locked. This is more than double the amount held by its closest competitor, PancakeSwap.
The DEX boasts approximately $1.32 billion in daily volumes across all versions and liquidity pools, with nearly 50% of this activity occurring on Uniswap V3, which is based on Ethereum. Activity statistics also reveal that Uniswap interacts with 156,000 unique wallets daily, although some of these addresses are associated with trading bots.
Uniswap has recovered over 50% of its peak value locked. One factor contributing to the lower value is the native token, UNI. During its peak, UNI traded at around $40, but it now hovers at $6.90. In 2024, UNI reached a peak of approximately $15 before the April correction.
As the leading DEX, Uniswap continues to support major assets, including highly active meme tokens. Additionally, Uniswap consistently lists new tokens with no barriers to entry other than liquidity. These new tokens tend to be held by a small number of users and are often volatile and risky, with liquidity pools typically containing less than 10 wETH.
