Uniswap (UNI): current news about the top decentralized exchange on the DeFi marketplace

Uniswap's ecosystem expansion and market performance

Uniswap is the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) in the DeFi sector, with $4.84 billion in total blockchain assets (TVL) as of October 2024, up 30% from $3.71 billion since the beginning of the year. According to DeFi Llama, Uniswap's DEX exchange supports exchanges on 25 blockchain networks, a list that continues to grow steadily.

For example, in December 2023, Uniswap integrated Rootstock, a bitcoin sidechain. This integration allowed users to trade digital assets in Bitcoin's decentralized ecosystem. This was a new development milestone for both Rootstock and Uniswap:

• On the one hand, users of the Bitcoin ecosystem gained access to the most considerable liquidity in the decentralized finance market (DeFi);
• On the other hand, users of the decentralized exchange opened up new possibilities for on-chain swaps (exchanges) that combine the security of the Bitcoin blockchain with the functionality of Ethereum smart contracts.

Uniswap's native token, UNI, does not have a blockchain. It supports 11 networks, which continue to expand. Adding new networks ensures that the token will add new use cases, thus increasing demand.

Subdomains and a new version of the protocol

Another reason for the growth of the Uniswap token could be the updates released by the DEX exchange's protocol developers. In February, the Uniswap team unveiled uni.eth subdomains based on the decentralized Ethereum Name Service (ENS) protocol, which allows using easy-to-read names instead of complex and lengthy wallet addresses for digital asset transfers. It is a domain name system (DNS) only for cryptocurrency wallets.

Thanks to the ENS infrastructure, subdomains can now be used outside the Uniswap ecosystem: ENS names support thousands of different decentralized applications (DApps). Users can also get one subdomain for free in the Uniswap app.

Another critical update is the new version of the Uniswap V4 protocol, which has not yet been launched but is expected in Q3 2024. One of the main innovations of Uniswap V4 is the so-called "hooks" — a set of tools that allow developers to modify the application code without affecting its basic structure.

With the help of these hooks, developers will be able to customize liquidity pools, for example, to set dynamic commissions on specific conditions or add unused liquidity to credit protocols.

However, the crypto community criticized the Uniswap team for one controversial feature: KYC, the identity authentication procedure for liquidity pools. This way, the protocol team can maintain a "white list" of Uniswap exchange liquidity pools.

In addition to these innovations, the team plans to integrate Singleton technology, which will allow the creation of new Uniswap liquidity pools without the need to launch a separate smart contract. And when combined with flash accounting, Singleton technology will provide more efficient token routing when making swaps or adding assets to liquidity pools, instead of each transaction eventually ending in a transfer.

A warning from the SEC

In April 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has traditionally attacked Web3 projects — Uniswap was no exception. The exchange team received a Wells notice in which the regulator reported violations of securities laws and warned of a possible lawsuit.

Uniswap creator Hayden Adams criticized the SEC's decision, noting that despite regular attacks on exchanges, including Coinbase, the regulator overlooked the bankrupt FTX exchange. In addition, the team behind the development of DEX exchange Uniswap said in July that the SEC had no right to regulate DeFi and waste already limited resources. Given the previous experience of Web3 projects fighting the SEC, there is no reason to believe that the current one, if any, will be successful for the regulator.