Uniswap Leans Into Multichain Future — Kinda

Uniswap is looking to “deploy everywhere,” according to a sizable delegate, as the DEX looks to double down on its already dominant market share.

Deploying on a number of Web3-oriented blockchains via Uniswap v3 has been the decentralized crypto exchange’s (DEX) latest move to bolster that effort. 

The recent uptick in blockchain deployment proposals likely stems from Uniswap v3’s business source license (BSL) expiring in the next few months, according to Getty Hill, the co-founder of the delegate, GFX Labs.

When Uniswap’s previous iteration, v2, first launched, opportunities abounded to fork its code  and launch copycat protocols on different chains, Hill said. 

“They would just copy and paste the code, launch and slap their own token on it,” Hill told Blockworks.

Binance’s popular BNB chain is now one of the most recent — and one of the most prominent — such protocols under consideration. Participants in Uniswap’s decentralized ecosystem have been in favor, considering some 80% of UNI (Uniswap’s token) holders on Tuesday voted in favor of the “temperature check” around the decision.  

Uniswap v3 focuses on concentrated liquidity; it deployed on Ethereum mainnet in May 2021; and it has consistently ranked first in its slice of overall market share.  

UNI holders behind proposals 

The product has since been rolled out on a growing number of protocols new to its platform, including Arbitrum, Optimism (OP), Polygon (MATIC) and Celo.

In an effort to sidestep Uniswap’s previous woes this time around, according to Hill, the protocol likely made the decision to attach the BSL. Meaning, in other words, that commercial uses of the code would require consent from Uniswap’s community. 

“But in April, the gloves come off — and, at that point, it would be free reign for anyone to deploy and use [the code] whichever way they want,” he said. 

It all adds up to a bit of a free for all.

“So, the strategy that [we] came to the conclusion with is that — small chain, big chain, bad chain, good chain — we’re deploying everywhere — because it’s much harder to fork the protocol if there’s already a Uniswap v3 deployment there.”

Deploying on other chains has so far borne fruit for Uniswap. After launching on Polygon for three months, the protocol managed to capture almost 50% of its market share. 

Erin Koen, ​​head of asset management at Avantgarde Finance, said that a number of Uniswap’s proposals in progress are poised to likely benefit the DEX itself — as well as the chain chosen for Uniswap deployment. 

Drawing on BNB as an example, Koen said it’s crucial that Uniswap captures trade volume on those chains, especially as the DEX eventually turns on its fee switch. Avantgarde Finance is another Uniswap delegate and acts as the lead maintainer of the Enzyme protocol, a blockchain infrastructure that allows for non-custodial, third-party management of pooled assets. 

“Eventually, we want to turn Uniswap into a protocol that can sustain itself,” Koen said. “Rather than just rely on this admittedly massive treasury … If there’s volume happening somewhere, we want to be a part of it,” Koen said. 

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