About Uniswap
Uniswap is a decentralized AMM (automated market maker) trading protocol, founded in 2018 by Hayden Adams, who was inspired by a concept from Vitalik Buterin based on a constant product formula (x × y = k). Instead of an order book, prices are set by a formula based on the ratio of two assets in a liquidity pool. The protocol is fully permissionless — anyone can swap, provide liquidity, or create a new market without approval from a central party.
How trading works (AMM)
You trade against a liquidity pool (a smart contract holding reserves of two tokens supplied by LPs), not against another user directly. The price shifts automatically based on how much of each token remains after a transaction — large orders relative to pool size cause greater slippage. Uniswap v4 introduces a "hooks" architecture that lets pools customize their behavior (dynamic fees, limit orders) without modifying the protocol's core.
Supported networks
Uniswap started out exclusively on Ethereum, but today it's deployed across more than a dozen networks: Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Celo, Zora, and Unichain, Uniswap Labs' own network. Funds don't move between networks automatically — bridging is required.
Fees and the UNI token
The fee goes entirely to LPs (not to Uniswap Labs) and varies by version and pool — in v3/v4, LPs choose the fee tier when creating a pool, ranging from 0.01% for stablecoins up to 1% for exotic pairs. Network gas is always added on top. UNI was launched on September 16, 2020 as a retroactive airdrop to earlier users — it's used exclusively for governance (voting on the treasury and protocol changes) and does not automatically entitle holders to a share of fees.
Security
The contracts are fully open source and immutable once deployed — no one, including the team, can modify them. Uniswap has run continuously since 2018 and processed hundreds of billions of dollars without a core-contract-level hack — most incidents in DeFi history have involved separate, less battle-tested projects that use Uniswap as infrastructure.
Who it's for
A natural starting point for anyone who wants to swap tokens without registration or KYC and values the deepest liquidity and longest track record. Less suitable for those chasing the lowest possible gas fees (an L2 is a better fit) or who prefer a centralized experience with customer support.
Uniswap Details
- Type: AMM (automated market maker)
- Chains: Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Unichain, Celo, Zora
- Typical fee: 0.3% (varies 0.01%–1% by pool)
- Governance token: UNI
- TVL: ~$3.06B (August 2026)
- Audits: Yes
- Official site: https://app.uniswap.org