Buy Uniswap

Uniswap is a decentralised exchange (DEX) built on Ethereum that lets people trade cryptocurrencies directly with one another, and UNI is the cryptocurrency that governs it. It is one of the best-known decentralised exchanges in the world.

It helps to separate two names that are sometimes confused. Uniswap is the exchange and protocol, while UNI is its governance token. People often use the names interchangeably, but you buy and hold UNI, while Uniswap is the underlying platform. Importantly, you do not need to hold UNI to trade on Uniswap. UNI mainly gives holders a say in how the protocol is run.

Instead of matching buyers and sellers through a traditional order book, Uniswap uses a system called an automated market maker (AMM). An automated market maker is a type of decentralised trading system that uses smart contracts and pooled funds to set prices and complete trades automatically, rather than matching a specific buyer with a specific seller.

On Uniswap, users supply pairs of tokens into shared liquidity pools, and others trade against those pools. Prices adjust automatically based on the balance of tokens in each pool, which means trades can happen at any time, without a central company holding funds or processing orders.

What is Uniswap used for?

Uniswap is mainly used to swap one cryptocurrency for another in a decentralised way. UNI is the asset used to take part in governing the Uniswap protocol.

UNI is used to:

• vote on proposals that shape the Uniswap protocol
• take part in decisions about the protocol's future and its funds
• be held and traded as a token on Ethereum

The Uniswap protocol itself is widely used across decentralised finance (DeFi) for swapping tokens and providing liquidity. People who add their tokens to liquidity pools can earn a share of the trading fees, while traders get access to a large range of tokens. UNI's role is focused on governance rather than being required to use the exchange.

Uniswap launched with a total of 1 billion UNI tokens, distributed over time to the community, team, investors and advisors. Future changes to the supply can be decided through Uniswap's governance process, which means the supply is managed by the community rather than fixed in the same way as some other cryptocurrencies.

The history of Uniswap

Uniswap was created by Hayden Adams and launched in November 2018 on Ethereum. The project was inspired by an idea for automated market makers and was supported in its early days by grants, including funding from the Ethereum Foundation.

A defining feature of Uniswap is that it runs entirely through smart contracts, with no central exchange holding user funds. You can find out more on the official Uniswap website.

The UNI token was introduced in September 2020 and was distributed partly through a widely discussed airdrop to people who had already used the platform. Since then, Uniswap has grown into one of the largest decentralised exchanges in crypto, expanding beyond Ethereum to other networks. People buy UNI for many reasons, including taking part in governance or gaining exposure to the Uniswap ecosystem.