Uniswap is an automated liquidity protocol powered by a constant product formula and implemented in a system of non-upgradeable smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. It obviates the need for trusted intermediaries, prioritizing decentralization, censorship resistance, and security. Uniswap is open-source software licensed under the GPL.
Inspired by Ethereum’s vision, we have long committed to the ideals of permissionless access, security, and immutability, all indespensable components for a future where anyone in the world can access financial services without fear of discrimination or counterparty risk.
Now rivaling centralized incumbents on daily volume, Uniswap’s success to date — achieved without involvement of the core development team since deployment — indicates that there is considerable demand for permissionless financial services.
In less than two years, the protocol has:
Supported over $20bn volume ($270k of which was socks!) traded by over 250,000 unique addresses across 8,484 unique assets
Secured over $1bn liquidity deposited by over 49,000 unique liquidity providers (LPs), earning $56m fees in the process
Emerged as foundational DeFi infrastructure, with integrations across hundreds of interfaces and applications.
Having proven product-market fit for highly decentralized financial infrastructure with a platform that has thrived independently, Uniswap is now particularly well positioned for community-led growth, development, and self-sustainability. The introduction of UNI (ERC-20) serves this purpose, enabling shared community ownership and a vibrant, diverse, and dedicated governance system, which will actively guide the protocol towards the future.
Uniswap has always embraced the tenets of neutrality and trust minimization : it is crucial that governance is constrained to where it is strictly necessary. With this in mind, the Uniswap governance framework is limited to contributing to both protocol development and usage as well as development of the broader Uniswap ecosystem.
In doing so, UNI officially enshrines Uniswap as publicly-owned and self-sustainable infrastructure while continuing to carefully protect its indestructible and autonomous qualities.
