Uniswap is the world's leading decentralised exchange (DEX), built on Ethereum. It pioneered the Automated Market Maker (AMM) model, replacing order books with liquidity pools. Anyone can provide liquidity and earn fees, or swap any ERC-20 token without creating an account.
2018
Uniswap v1 launches — first AMM DEX
2020
UNI governance token airdropped — $1,200 to early users
2021
Uniswap v3 introduces concentrated liquidity
2023
Uniswap v4 announced with hooks for customisable pools
2024
SEC issues Wells notice to Uniswap Labs
Decentralised token swapping, liquidity provision, permissionless trading
💡 Did You Know
Hayden Adams built the first version of Uniswap in a few months after being laid off. He had no prior Solidity experience.
⚠ Controversies & Red Flags
Uniswap v3's concentrated liquidity model, while innovative, made liquidity provision far more complex. The DAO's governance has been criticised as dominated by large token holders.