Uniswap is a decentralized finance protocol that is used to exchange cryptocurrencies. Uniswap is also the name of the company that initially built the Uniswap protocol. The protocol facilitates automated transactions between cryptocurrency tokens on the Ethereum blockchain through the use of smart contracts. As of October 2020, Uniswap was estimated to be the largest decentralized exchange and the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange overall by daily trading volume. In March 2021, Uniswap was generating fees of approximately US$2–3 million daily for the liquidity providers who facilitate liquid markets for the cryptocurrencies being exchanged.
The Uniswap team has no say in auditing or other legal matters, though they can occasionally delegate votes. Other than this, however, it is primarily the Uniswap community that has control over how the platform operates. If someone is looking to submit a governance proposal, they must pay approximately 1% of their overall UNI tokens. From there, anyone looking to vote “yes” on a submitted proposal must pay 4% of their UNI supply.
