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Uniswap UNI

$4.89
-$0.2457 (-4.9%)
Min
$4.89
Max
$5.27
Volume
A measure of how much of a cryptocurrency was traded in the last 24 hours.
$307.2M
Market cap
The total market value of a cryptocurrency's circulating supply. It is analogous to the free-float capitalization in the stock market. Market Cap = Current Price x Circulating Supply.
$3.08B
Max supply
The maximum amount of coins that will ever exist in the lifetime of the cryptocurrency. It is analogous to the fully diluted shares in the stock market.
$0
Official site
uniswap.org/blog/uni
Explorer
etherscan.io/token/0x1f9840a85d5af5bf1d1762f925bdaddc4201f984

Uniswap token (UNI) is a type of cryptocurrency that is issued by the decentralised exchange (DEX) bearing the same name.

It was initially given out to users of the Uniswap platform via an airdrop campaign in September 2020 but can also be bought and sold on many different types of exchanges.

More information can be found at https://uniswap.org/blog/uni/.

How does Uniswap’s UNI work?

Uniswap was one of the earliest protocols built on the Ethereum platform specifically to automate the trading of cryptocurrency. Its method of swapping one cryptocurrency for another was slightly different from the way previous decentralised exchanges (DEX) had worked.

Instead of creating order books for buyers and sellers to place or take orders, Uniswap used a shared liquidity pool, in which individual people contributed their assets, automating rates and swaps simultaneously.

DEXs like Uniswap helped to popularise the term “decentralised finance” or DEFI.

To learn more about what decentralised exchanges are and how they work, please read this Learn Crypto article: What Are Decentralised Exchanges?

UNI as a means toward decentralised governance

Unlike traditional exchanges that took commissions, Uniswap professed to being a “public good” project, using simple mathematical equations to automate the buying and selling of cryptocurrency.

In its efforts to stay true to this philosophy of public good, and in keeping with the democratic and open aspects of DEFI, the Uniswap DEX began issuing UNI tokens to its users as a way to implement decentralized governance features. In other words, UNI tokens were a way for Uniswap users to vote on decisions affecting the future of Uniswap.

In this way, even the future direction and development of Uniswap would be done in a decentralised manner, with UNI token holders wielding the power to vote on proposals.

How do you get UNI?

Uniswap officially launched UNI in September 2020 as its governance token. Each Ethereum wallet address that had ever interacted with the Uniswap platform before September 2020 received an “airdrop” of 400 UNI. According to estimates, some 66 million UNI were claimed on the first day of the airdrop, from a total of 150 million UNI allocated.

UNI has done remarkably well in terms of price performance, topping $40 at some point in 2021. It currently trades at around $7 (August 2022).

The UNI token contract address is available to look up on the public Ethereum blockchain explorer at: 0x1f9840a85d5af5bf1d1762f925bdaddc4201f984.

Any web3 wallet compatible with Ethereum should be able to hold UNI, as well as both hardware and software versions of any other type of popular digital wallet. This includes MetaMastk, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, and Wallet Connect.

Today, the only you can obtain UNI is by purchasing or exchanging for it yourself at exchanges, or by earning them through certain types of DEFI interactions. The following sections detail how you can achieve this.

Buying or swapping for UNI at exchanges

Despite UNI being a decentralised exchange governance token, there are quite a number of traditional or centralised exchanges that actually list the UNI token. So it could be easiest for most people to buy it from an exchange like Coinbase, Binance or even Kraken – depending on where you are and whether or not you are comfortable using conventional exchanges.

If privacy matters to you, or you prefer going the DEX route, then the best place to get your hands on UNI would be through the Uniswap DEX itself.

If you do decide to do this, it is recommended to use Ether (ETH) to exchange for it since the ETH-UNI swapping pair consistently provides the best rates, at the lowest slippage (meaning to say, you could purchase a large amount of UNI without a significant price impact). This is because this pair typically has the largest liquidity. Of course, you should be able to trade most amounts with any available digital asset pair.

Be sure to check that you are using the most current version of the Uniswap platform (v3 as of August 2022).

Alternatively, you can also use a DEX aggregator to search all the major DEXs for the best rates and cheapest fees.

Unfortunately, UNI only exists as an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, so you won’t be able to find the token using DEXs or DEFI platforms that aren’t compatible with Ethereum.

Earning UNI at the Uniswap DEX

If you’re less interested in trading or exchanging for your UNI and would like to try earning some of them on your own, this is also possible by using some of the DEFI functions available at the Uniswap DEX.

Many DEXs use their own native token to help provide more incentives to people using their platform. UNI is no different, as it is used to reward certain types of activities on the Uniswap DEX. In particular, UNI is distributed to users who participate in the network and provide liquidity to certain markets in the DEX. Many people generate UNI and sell them for revenue.

On Uniswap, the process is called liquidity mining. This is why some people might refer to the process of generating the token as UNI mining. Another term that might be used here is yield farming. In general, they all involve the same thing: locking in your liquidity in the DEX and earning native tokens for it. The more assets you lock in, and the longer you lock them in for, the more UNI you will earn.

To learn more about what a Liquidity Provider is and how Liquidity Pool tokens work, read this Learn Crypto article: What is a Liquidity Provider in Cryptocurrency?

Currently, there are four liquidity pools at Uniswap DEX that allow you to earn UNI via their specific Liquidity Pool tokens or LP tokens.

  • ETH/USDT
  • ETH/USDC
  • ETH/DAI
  • ETH/WBTC

Once you provide liquidity to any of the above liquidity pools, you will then be issued the respective LP tokens.

Next, you need to lock these LP tokens to liquidity mining by “depositing” them into one of the available Uniswap liquidity mining programs. The specific rewards in UNI will depend on the type of program you deposit the LP tokens into, and the duration you leave them in there.