Discover what UNISWAP (UNI) is, how it works, and why it matters in crypto. Explore its features, use cases, tokenomics, and tutorials with MEXC.Discover what UNISWAP (UNI) is, how it works, and why it matters in crypto. Explore its features, use cases, tokenomics, and tutorials with MEXC.

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What is UNISWAP (UNI)

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Start learning about what is UNISWAP through guides, tokenomics, trading information, and more.

Page last updated: 2026-01-09 01:42:56 (UTC+8)

UNISWAP (UNI) Basic Introduction

Uniswap is a protocol for automatic token exchange on Ethereum. It is designed around ease of use, gas efficiency, censorship resistance, and zero rent.

UNISWAP (UNI) Profile

Token Name
UNISWAP
Ticker Symbol
UNI
Public Blockchain
ETH
Whitepaper
--
Official Website
Sector
DeFi
Market Cap
$ 3.49B
All Time Low
$ 0.418997
All Time High
$ 44.9740
Social Media
Block Explorer

What is UNISWAP (UNI) Trading

UNISWAP (UNI) trading refers to buying and selling the token in the cryptocurrency market. On MEXC, users can trade UNI through different markets depending on your investment goals and risk preferences. The two most common methods are spot trading and futures trading.

UNISWAP (UNI) Spot Trading

Crypto spot trading is directly buying or selling UNI at the current market price. Once the trade is completed, you own the actual UNI tokens, which can be held, transferred, or sold later. Spot trading is the most straightforward way to get exposure to UNI without leverage.

UNISWAP Spot Trading

How to Acquire UNISWAP (UNI)

You can easily obtain UNISWAP (UNI) on MEXC using a variety of payment methods such as credit card, debit card, bank transfer, Paypal, and many more! Learn how to buy tokens at MEXC now!

How to Buy UNISWAP Guide

Deeper Insights into UNISWAP (UNI)

UNISWAP (UNI) History and Background

Uniswap (UNI) History and Background

Uniswap was created by Hayden Adams in 2018, inspired by a post from Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin about automated market makers. Adams, who had limited programming experience at the time, taught himself Solidity and began developing what would become one of the most influential decentralized exchanges in the cryptocurrency space.

Early Development and Launch

The first version of Uniswap launched on the Ethereum mainnet in November 2018. Unlike traditional exchanges that use order books, Uniswap introduced an automated market maker model where users trade against liquidity pools rather than other traders directly. This revolutionary approach eliminated the need for buyers and sellers to be matched manually.

Growth and Evolution

Uniswap V2 was released in May 2020, introducing significant improvements including ERC-20 to ERC-20 pairs and flash swaps. The platform gained massive traction during the DeFi summer of 2020, becoming the backbone of decentralized finance with billions of dollars in trading volume.

UNI Token Launch

In September 2020, Uniswap surprised the crypto community by launching its governance token UNI and distributing 400 tokens to every wallet that had previously used the protocol. This airdrop was worth thousands of dollars at the time and demonstrated the platform's commitment to decentralized governance.

Recent Developments

Uniswap V3 launched in May 2021, introducing concentrated liquidity and multiple fee tiers, allowing liquidity providers to achieve better capital efficiency. The protocol continues to evolve, maintaining its position as the largest decentralized exchange by volume and total value locked.

Who Created UNISWAP (UNI)?

Hayden Adams is the creator and founder of Uniswap, one of the most influential decentralized exchanges in the cryptocurrency space. Adams, a former mechanical engineer at Siemens, made a remarkable transition from traditional engineering to blockchain development that would ultimately reshape decentralized finance.

The journey began in 2017 when Adams was laid off from his engineering job. During this period, his friend Karl Floersch, who worked at the Ethereum Foundation, introduced him to Ethereum and suggested he try building something on the platform. Despite having no prior experience in software development or blockchain technology, Adams became fascinated with the potential of decentralized applications.

Inspiration from Vitalik Buterin played a crucial role in Uniswap's creation. Adams discovered a blog post by Ethereum's co-founder describing automated market makers and the concept of constant product market making. This mathematical formula, x * y = k, became the foundation of Uniswap's revolutionary trading mechanism, eliminating the need for traditional order books.

Adams spent months learning Solidity programming and developing the initial Uniswap protocol. The first version launched in November 2018, introducing a completely new way to trade cryptocurrencies through liquidity pools rather than matching buyers and sellers directly. This innovation allowed users to trade tokens automatically against smart contract-managed liquidity pools.

Ethereum Foundation support was instrumental in Uniswap's development. Adams received a grant from the Ethereum Foundation, which provided crucial funding during the early stages. This support validated his vision and enabled him to continue developing the protocol without immediate commercial pressure.

The UNI governance token was launched in September 2020 with Uniswap V2, marking a significant milestone in decentralized governance. Adams designed UNI to give the community control over the protocol's future development, fees, and treasury management, embodying the principles of decentralized autonomous organization.

Technical innovation continued with subsequent versions. Uniswap V3, launched in May 2021, introduced concentrated liquidity, allowing liquidity providers to allocate capital more efficiently within specific price ranges. This advancement significantly improved capital efficiency and reduced slippage for traders.

Adams' creation has processed hundreds of billions of dollars in trading volume and inspired numerous other automated market maker protocols. His work fundamentally changed how people think about cryptocurrency trading, moving away from centralized exchanges toward trustless, permissionless systems.

How Does UNISWAP (UNI) Work?

Uniswap (UNI) operates as a decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain, revolutionizing how cryptocurrency trading works without traditional intermediaries.

The core mechanism of Uniswap relies on Automated Market Makers (AMM) instead of order books used by centralized exchanges. This system uses mathematical formulas to determine token prices automatically based on supply and demand ratios in liquidity pools.

Liquidity pools form the foundation of Uniswap's operation. These pools contain pairs of tokens (like ETH/USDC) that users deposit to facilitate trading. When someone wants to trade, they interact directly with these pools rather than finding another trader willing to make the opposite trade.

The pricing formula follows the constant product model: x * y = k, where x and y represent the quantities of two tokens in a pool, and k remains constant. When users buy one token, its quantity decreases while the other increases, automatically adjusting the price to maintain the mathematical relationship.

Liquidity providers earn fees by depositing token pairs into pools. They receive liquidity provider (LP) tokens representing their share of the pool and earn 0.3% of all trading fees proportional to their contribution. However, they face impermanent loss risk when token prices diverge significantly.

UNI token serves multiple purposes: governance voting rights, protocol fee distribution potential, and community incentives. Holders can vote on protocol upgrades, fee structures, and treasury allocation decisions through decentralized governance.

Smart contracts execute all operations automatically, ensuring permissionless and trustless trading. Anyone can create new trading pairs, provide liquidity, or trade without requiring approval from central authorities, making Uniswap accessible globally 24/7.

UNISWAP (UNI) Key Features

Decentralized Automated Market Maker (AMM)

Uniswap operates as a fully decentralized exchange protocol built on Ethereum, utilizing an Automated Market Maker system instead of traditional order books. This revolutionary approach allows users to trade cryptocurrencies directly from their wallets without intermediaries. The AMM model uses mathematical formulas to determine token prices based on supply and demand ratios in liquidity pools, eliminating the need for centralized market makers or matching buyers with sellers manually.

Liquidity Pool System

The protocol relies on liquidity pools where users can deposit pairs of tokens to facilitate trading. These pools contain reserves of two different tokens, and traders can swap between them by interacting with the smart contracts. Liquidity providers earn fees from trades proportional to their share of the pool. This system ensures continuous liquidity availability and enables trading of various token pairs without requiring traditional market makers or centralized authorities to maintain order books.

Permissionless Token Listing

Unlike centralized exchanges that require approval processes, Uniswap allows anyone to list new tokens by simply creating a liquidity pool. This permissionless nature has made it a popular platform for new projects and decentralized finance applications. Users can trade newly launched tokens immediately without waiting for exchange approvals, fostering innovation and providing early access to emerging cryptocurrency projects.

UNI Governance Token

The UNI token serves as the governance token for the Uniswap protocol, giving holders voting rights on protocol upgrades, fee structures, and treasury management decisions. Token holders can propose and vote on changes to the protocol, making Uniswap truly community-governed. UNI tokens were initially distributed through airdrops to early users and liquidity providers, creating a decentralized governance structure that aligns with the protocols ethos of decentralization and community ownership.

UNISWAP (UNI) Distribution and Allocation

UNISWAP (UNI) Token Distribution and Allocation

Uniswap launched its native governance token UNI in September 2020 with a total supply of 1 billion tokens distributed over four years. The allocation strategy was designed to balance community ownership, team incentives, and ecosystem development.

Initial Distribution Breakdown

The UNI token distribution follows a structured approach: 60% allocated to community members, including 15% through an immediate airdrop to historical users, 43% for community treasury funding, and 2% reserved for future community initiatives. 40% goes to team and investors, with 21.266% for team members and future employees, 17.8% for investors, and 0.934% for advisors.

Community Airdrop Program

Uniswap executed one of the largest DeFi airdrops, distributing 150 million UNI tokens to early users. Each eligible address received 400 UNI tokens, worth approximately $1,200 at launch. Eligibility criteria included using Uniswap before September 1, 2020, or having liquidity pool tokens. This retroactive distribution rewarded early adopters and created immediate community ownership.

Vesting Schedule and Release Mechanism

Team, investor, and advisor allocations follow a four-year vesting schedule with varying unlock periods. Team tokens have longer lock-up periods to ensure continued development commitment. The community treasury releases tokens through governance proposals, allowing UNI holders to vote on funding decisions for protocol development, grants, and partnerships.

Liquidity Mining Programs

Uniswap implemented liquidity mining incentives, distributing UNI tokens to liquidity providers in specific pools. These programs encourage participation while gradually distributing tokens to active users. The protocol allocated millions of tokens monthly to reward liquidity provision in key trading pairs, supporting platform growth and token distribution simultaneously.

UNISWAP (UNI) Utility and Use Cases

Uniswap (UNI) Token Uses and Applications

The UNI token serves as the native governance token of Uniswap, one of the largest decentralized exchanges built on Ethereum. UNI holders have multiple utilities and application scenarios within the Uniswap ecosystem.

Governance and Voting Rights

UNI token holders can participate in decentralized governance by voting on protocol upgrades, fee structures, and treasury allocations. Each UNI token represents voting power in the Uniswap DAO, allowing holders to influence the platform's future development and strategic decisions.

Liquidity Mining and Rewards

UNI tokens are distributed as rewards to liquidity providers who stake their assets in designated pools. This incentivizes users to provide liquidity to the platform, ensuring sufficient trading pairs and reducing slippage for traders.

Fee Distribution

Future protocol upgrades may enable UNI holders to receive a portion of trading fees generated on the platform. This creates potential passive income opportunities for long-term token holders.

Access to Premium Features

UNI tokens may grant access to advanced trading features, analytics tools, or priority access to new product launches within the Uniswap ecosystem.

Cross-Platform Integration

UNI can be used across various DeFi protocols as collateral for lending, farming in yield aggregators, or trading on other decentralized exchanges. Its widespread recognition makes it a valuable asset in the broader DeFi ecosystem.

Treasury Management

The Uniswap treasury holds significant UNI tokens and other assets, which can be allocated for grants, partnerships, and ecosystem development through community governance proposals.

UNISWAP (UNI) Tokenomics

Tokenomics describes the economic model of UNISWAP (UNI), including its supply, distribution, and utility within the ecosystem. Factors such as total supply, circulating supply, and token allocation to the team, investors, or community play a major role in shaping its market behavior.

UNISWAP Tokenomics

Pro Tip: Understanding UNI's tokenomics, price trends, and market sentiment can help you better assess its potential future price movements.

UNISWAP (UNI) Price History

Price history provides valuable context for UNI, showing how the token has reacted to different market conditions since its launch. By studying historical highs, lows, and overall trends, traders can spot patterns or gain perspective on the token's volatility. Explore the UNI historical price movement now!

UNISWAP (UNI) Price History

UNISWAP (UNI) Price Prediction

Building on tokenomics and past performance, price predictions for UNI aim to estimate where the token might be headed. Analysts and traders often look at supply dynamics, adoption trends, market sentiment, and broader crypto movements to form expectations. Did you know, MEXC has a price prediction tool that can assist you in measuring the future price of UNI? Check it out now!

UNISWAP Price Prediction

Disclaimer

The information on this page regarding UNISWAP (UNI) is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. MEXC makes no guarantees as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the content provided. Cryptocurrency trading carries significant risks, including market volatility and potential loss of capital. You should conduct independent research, assess your financial situation, and consult a licensed advisor before making any investment decisions. MEXC is not liable for any losses or damages arising from reliance on this information.

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