What is Uniswap (UNI)?
Uniswap is a decentralised exchange: a set of smart contracts that let anyone swap one token for another without a company in the middle. UNI is the token that lets holders vote on how Uniswap is run.
Where it came from
UNI launched in September 2020 with an initial supply of 1 billion tokens. Every address that had used Uniswap could claim 400 UNI. About 141,000 addresses claimed within days.
How it works
Lesson 42 explains decentralised exchanges and liquidity pools in detail. In short:
- People called liquidity providers deposit pairs of tokens into pools.
- Traders swap against those pools, and a formula sets the price.
- Each swap pays a small fee to the liquidity providers.
Lesson 44 explains where that fee income comes from, and the impermanent loss calculator shows its main risk.
The 2025 fee switch
For years, all trading fees went to liquidity providers and UNI holders received nothing. In December 2025, holders voted 99.9% in favour of a proposal called UNIfication. It:
- turns on a protocol fee, so part of the trading fees goes to the protocol instead of liquidity providers
- uses those fees to buy and destroy UNI on an ongoing basis
- destroyed 100 million UNI at once, an estimate of what would have been burned had the fee been on since launch
- removed fees from Uniswap Labs' own app and wallet
Supply
UNI started with 1 billion tokens. With the one-off burn of 100 million and continuing burns from fees, the supply now falls as Uniswap is used. The market data panel shows the current figures.
What people use it for
Traders use Uniswap to swap tokens. People hold UNI to vote on Uniswap's future, and since the fee switch, burns are funded by trading activity.
Risks to know
- Smart contract risk. Uniswap is code. Lesson 45 explains how DeFi apps can fail.
- Fake tokens. Anyone can create a pool for any token, including copies with famous names. Lesson 37 shows how to check what you are buying.
- Burns depend on trading. Less trading means fewer UNI burned.
- Price swings. UNI can fall far and fast, like other tokens.
Learn more
Lesson 42 covers decentralised exchanges, Lesson 41 introduces DeFi and Lesson 45 covers its risks.
Uniswap is the largest decentralised exchange, and UNI lets holders govern it. Since a December 2025 vote, part of the trading fees is used to burn UNI, after a one-off burn of 100 million.
These guides explain how each coin works. They are not recommendations, and we do not tell you what to buy. Prices can fall, and you can lose everything you put in.
Sources
- The Block: Over 140,000 addresses have claimed their 400 UNI airdrops (September 2020)
- The Block: Uniswap governance passes UNIfication proposal (December 2025)
- ForkLog: Uniswap to activate protocol fees and burn tokens
Facts checked against these sources on 13 October 2026. Each guide is checked again every month.
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