BlackRock, Apollo, and Citadel have acquired or agreed to acquire DeFi tokens. Here’s why and what it really signals.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Uniswap's community is mulling expanding protocol fees to bolster revenue collection across all remaining v3 pools on the Ethereum mainnet.
Ethereum’s tokenized real-world asset market cap has topped $17 billion, up nearly 315% year over year as more TradFi giants move onchain.
The lawsuit claims that Bannon, Epshteyn, and other defendants misled investors about the memecoin, which was launched in late 2021.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Uniswap’s native token, UNI, posted a sharp gain on Wednesday after the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, announced plans to bring its Treasury‑backed digital fund, BUIDL, onto the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. The move, which also includes BlackRock’s intention to purchase UNI tokens, fueled a strong rally in the token during the trading session. BUIDL Launch On Uniswap The development was detailed in a joint press release from Uniswap Labs and Securitize. The two companies revealed a strategic integration that will allow shares of the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) to be traded using UniswapX technology. Through the integration of UniswapX with Securitize’s infrastructure, investors will be able to access market quotes and swap BUIDL directly with whitelisted participants around the clock, every day of the year. Related Reading: Ripple Wins Key UAE Bank Partnership To Support Digital Asset Infrastructure The companies described the move as an important step in bridging traditional financial products with decentralized trading systems. Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s Global Head of Digital Assets, characterized the collaboration as a meaningful development in the convergence of tokenized assets and decentralized finance. He said integrating BUIDL into Uniswap represents significant progress in enabling interoperability between tokenized US dollar yield funds and stablecoins. UNI Outperforms Sluggish Crypto Market Following the announcement, Uniswap climbed to a weekly high of $4.50 earlier on Wednesday. However, the upward momentum eased later in the session, with the token pulling back to around $3.68 at the time of writing. Related Reading: Strategy Unfazed By Bitcoin Crash, Michael Saylor Vows Quarterly Purchases Even with the retracement, UNI stood out as one of the few cryptocurrencies recording gains during the day, as Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader digital asset market continued to face bearish pressure. From a technical perspective, Uniswap investors will need to watch the $3.14 level, which has served as support since Friday of last week. On the upside, the $4.70 level may act as short‑term resistance if renewed buying interest pushes prices higher in the coming days. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
Uniswap’s governance token jumped after the decentralized exchange’s creators announced an integration with BlackRock's tokenized fund.
BlackRock is bringing its tokenized Treasury fund BUIDL to Uniswap through Securitize, marking its first direct DeFi trading integration.
BlackRock will make shares of its $2.2 billion tokenized U.S. Treasury fund tradable on the decentralized exchange Uniswap.
Bitwise has become the first asset manager to make a formal move toward a Uniswap-focused exchange-traded fund.
The rollout of Aero, targeted for the second quarter of 2026, will take direct aim at incumbents like Uniswap and Curve, the team told CoinDesk.
CCAs are a price-discovery and liquidity-boosting mechanism that minimizes the impact of bot snipers when launching tokens.
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum, appears to have quietly crossed an important critical threshold that has historically signaled major price expansions. While the Ethereum price action may still appear calm on the surface, underlying market structure and flow dynamics suggest a meaningful shift is underway. This type of transition typically occurs when accumulation replaces distribution, volatility compresses, and smart money positions ahead of broader market recognition. A Silent Shift That Usually Comes Before Violent Expansion Ethereum just crossed a quiet but massive threshold. Trader and investor Shuarix has mentioned on X that Zama has gone live with the first fully encrypted Initial Coin Offering (ICO) ever executed on the ETH mainnet, moving a confidential USDT and running a sealed-bid Dutch auction entirely on encrypted data. Related Reading: Ethereum Gains Institutional Support, Though ETH Price Outlook Remains Contested In just 3 days, more than $118 million was committed, over $100 million was shielded, and the auction was 218% oversubscribed with more than 11,000 verified bidders. At peak activity, the Zama application became the most-used app on ETH, surpassing both USDT and Uniswap during the event, with zero downtime and full ETH-level throughout. Crypto analyst Milk Road revealed that BitMine Immersion Technologies has made a large purchase of 40,302 ETH in a single move, which brings their total stack holdings to a massive 4,243,338 ETH, worth over $12.3 billion at the current price. In perspective, the company now controls 3.52% of the entire ETH circulating supply, and they’re not just letting it sit idle. According to Milk Road, BitMine has over 2 million ETH tokens already staked, generating $180 million in annualized rewards. This means the company is not just playing the buy-and-hold game, but compounding its position at scale, which is all well and good for BitMine. Meanwhile, this sustained buying pressure will help create a price floor for the long-term ETH holders. Furthermore, this move is the type of institutional accumulation that will keep ETH moving inside its ascending channel. Thus, this will help to pull the price back into that channel after the macro shocks temporarily push it out. “Below is the 2025 tariff shock. While the headlines try to muddy your view of things, this chart will tell the real story,” Milk Road noted. Accumulation Continues Despite Price Being Near Entry Levels The realized price of the Ethereum accumulation address is acting as a major support level. A crypto investor known as CW has also pointed out that ETH has only reached this realized price once in history, which is very similar to the current price range. Related Reading: Ethereum Stalls In A Critical Zone As Breakout Structures Wait For Confirmation However, the whale’s purchase price for ETH is not significantly different from the current price. Despite that, their ETH accumulation is increasing, indicating that whales still view the current price as fair value. This shows that they are preparing for an upward trend. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
The proposal, which transforms UNI into a value-accruing asset, received more than 125 million votes in support with just 742 dissenting.
The proposal shifts a portion of trading fees from liquidity providers to the protocol, which will be used to burn native token UNI.
The protocol’s “UNIfication” proposal has already crossed quorum, with more than 69 million UNI tokens voting in favor and virtually no opposition as of Monday.
UNI jumped after voting began on a proposal to activate Uniswap protocol fees, while broader crypto markets traded quietly.
The proposal would activate protocol fee switches, burn 100 million UNI, and formally align Uniswap Labs with governance.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Uniswap has generated over $985 million in fees year-to-date, averaging close to $93 million per month from January to October.
Uniswap (UNI) has sparked a storm across DeFi after founder Hayden Adams unveiled the long-awaited “UNIfication” proposal, a sweeping governance overhaul that introduces protocol fees, a substantial $842 million token burn, and a strategic buyback plan. Related Reading: XRP’s Next ‘Face-Melting’ Rally Could Hit Within 6 Weeks—Analyst The move marks Uniswap’s biggest reform since its 2020 token launch, designed to transform UNI from a passive governance token into a deflationary, yield-generating asset. Under the proposal, 0.3% of all trading volume will now be split between liquidity providers (0.25%) and a UNI buyback pool (0.05%), creating continuous demand for the token. With over $1 trillion in annualized trading volume, analysts project roughly $38 million in monthly buybacks, about $450 million annually. Whales Accumulate as Uniswap (UNI) Skyrockets 63% The market reaction was explosive. Uniswap (UNI) surged by over 63% in one week, peaking at $10 before stabilizing around $8.57. On-chain data from Santiment shows rising whale accumulation and a steady increase in UNI held outside of exchanges, indicating long-term investor confidence. BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes reportedly purchased $244,000 worth of UNI, joining institutional buyers positioning for a supply shock. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju predicted that if protocol fees remain active, annual burns could exceed $500 million, drastically tightening supply. “Even with unlocks, a UNI supply shock seems inevitable,” Ju noted. The rally also extended to other DeFi assets, such as AAVE, Synthetix, and Compound, as traders speculated that Uniswap’s model could set a new standard for protocol-owned liquidity and value distribution. UNI's price trends to the upside on the daily chart. Source: UNIUSD on Tradingview UNIfication Ushers in the Next Era of DeFi Governance Beyond tokenomics, UNIfication unites Uniswap Labs, the Foundation, and the Unichain L2 network under one ecosystem. The proposal eliminates interface fees, introduces fee discount auctions to enhance LP returns, and compensates governance delegates, turning Uniswap’s decision-making into a professionalized, revenue-sharing system. Adams emphasized that the initiative represents more than a technical upgrade, it’s a cultural shift. “Uniswap can be the primary place tokens are traded globally,” he said. “This proposal ends a restrictive chapter and begins the decade of Uniswap.” Related Reading: Ethereum Ready To Explode To $12,000 By January, Says Tom Lee With UNI up more than 66% this week and investors anticipating formal governance approval, the DeFi giant appears poised to reclaim its dominance as crypto’s flagship decentralized exchange. Cover image from ChatGPT, UNIUSD chart from Tradingview
Also: Monad Tokenomics Unveiled, Anchorage Dabbles in BTC DeFi and Injective’s Native EVM.
The fee switch implies a 2.5% annual supply reduction, creating a quasi-buyback dynamic that directly links network activity with token scarcity.
When Uniswap’s administrators filed their “UNIfication” proposal on Nov. 10, it read less like a protocol update and more like a corporate overhaul. The plan would activate dormant protocol fees, channel them through a new on-chain treasury engine, and utilize the proceeds to purchase and burn UNI tokens. This is a model that mirrors share-repurchase […]
The post Uniswap, Lido, Aave?! How Token Buybacks Are Quietly Centralizing DeFi appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Uniswap is once again making headlines in the DeFi sector after Hayden Adams, founder and CEO of Uniswap Labs, announced a major governance proposal to activate protocol fees and align incentives across the Uniswap ecosystem. The announcement sent shockwaves through the market, with UNI’s price surging more than 50% in the hours following the news — reflecting renewed optimism among investors and traders. Related Reading: Anti-CZ Whale Flips Bullish On Ethereum: Now Up $15M On A $119.6M Long Position In a post shared on X, Adams reflected on Uniswap’s evolution: “Uniswap has been my passion and singular focus for the past 8 years. What started as a small side project is now global financial infrastructure powering thousands of applications with ~$1.8 trillion in annual trading.” Since UNI’s launch in 2020, Uniswap Labs has been largely unable to meaningfully participate in governance, constrained by regulatory pressures that Adams said cost “thousands of hours and tens of millions in legal fees.” Now, with the regulatory environment shifting, those limitations appear to be easing. Inside Hayden Adams’ Vision to Reshape Uniswap’s Future In his new governance proposal, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams outlined a sweeping plan to overhaul how the protocol operates, distributes value, and aligns incentives across its ecosystem. “At a high level,” Adams explained, the proposal seeks to activate protocol fees and direct them toward UNI burns, creating a sustainable mechanism for value accrual. The plan also includes sending Unichain sequencer fees to the UNI burn, further tightening the token’s supply, and burning 100 million UNI from the treasury, representing the fees that could have been burned if the mechanism had been active since launch. Another major component introduces Protocol Fee Discount Auctions, a new feature designed to improve liquidity provider (LP) outcomes and capture MEV (miner extractable value) directly for the protocol. Adams also proposes “aggregator hooks” for Uniswap v4, turning it into an on-chain aggregator capable of collecting fees from external liquidity sources — a move that could expand Uniswap’s reach across the DeFi ecosystem. Beyond these technical changes, the proposal redefines the role of Uniswap Labs, directing it to focus exclusively on protocol growth and governance-aligned initiatives, while ending fee collection on its interface, wallet, and API to encourage wider adoption. Finally, the plan would merge Foundation employees into Labs under a new growth fund and move governance-owned Unisocks liquidity to v4 on Unichain, where it would be burned. However, not everyone sees this as purely bullish. Some analysts argue the move reflects growing pressure from rivals like Aerodrome Finance, whose rapid ecosystem expansion has drawn liquidity away from Uniswap. From this perspective, the proposal may represent both a bold strategic pivot and a defensive play to reassert Uniswap’s dominance in a fast-evolving DeFi landscape. Related Reading: Ethereum Trading Volume On Binance Surpasses $6 Trillion: A Speculative Frenzy Unfolds UNI Price Analysis: Massive Breakout Follows Governance Proposal Uniswap’s native token, UNI, posted a powerful rebound following Hayden Adams’ governance proposal, with price action reflecting a decisive change in sentiment. As seen on the 3-day chart, UNI surged nearly +50%, climbing from around $5.80 to a local high above $10.30 before stabilizing near $8.20 at the time of writing. The spike came alongside a sharp rise in trading volume, indicating strong market participation and renewed investor confidence. Technically, UNI’s breakout has reclaimed both the 50-day and 100-day moving averages, suggesting a potential shift in momentum after months of bearish consolidation. However, the 200-day moving average near the $9.50–$10.00 zone remains a critical resistance level to watch. A clean break above it could open the door for a continuation toward the $12–$14 range, where UNI last faced heavy distribution. Related Reading: SharpLink Gaming Wallet Moves Freshly Redeemed Ethereum to OKX – Details The volume profile highlights significant accumulation pressure beneath $6, aligning with long-term support tested multiple times since mid-2024. While the market may see short-term retracement following such a sharp move, the combination of bullish fundamentals and structural recovery on the chart suggests UNI could be entering a new medium-term accumulation phase — with its next trajectory likely tied to community approval of the newly proposed protocol fee activation. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
Uniswap (UNI) ripped higher on Tuesday after Uniswap Labs founder Hayden Adams unveiled “UNIfication,” a sweeping governance proposal that would activate protocol fees and route them into coordinated token burns. The structural shift—combined with a sharp change in how Uniswap’s teams are organized, igniting an extremely bullish sentiment, with CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju arguing that a real supply shock could be incoming. Uniswap (UNI) Supply Shock Incoming? “Uniswap could go parabolic if the fee switch is activated. Even just counting v2 and v3, with $1T in YTD volume, that’s about $500M in annual burns if volume holds. Exchanges hold $830M, so even with unlocks, a supply shock seems inevitable. Correct me if I’m wrong,” Ki Young Ju wrote. In a thread posted early Tuesday, Adams said he was “incredibly excited to make my first proposal to Uniswap governance,” describing a framework that “turns on protocol fees and aligns incentives across the Uniswap ecosystem.” He framed the move as the culmination of years of legal wrangling that had constrained Labs’ role: “UNI launched in 2020, but for the past 5 years Labs has been unable to meaningfully participate in Uniswap governance […] That ends today,” he wrote, adding that “the regulatory environment has shifted.” Related Reading: Binance Whales Turn Active On Uniswap As Outflows Hit Multi-Month Highs – Details The on-chain economics he outlined are unambiguous. Protocol usage would begin burning UNI; Unichain sequencer revenue would be directed to the same burn sink; and the treasury would immediately destroy 100 million UNI to account for fees that “could have been burned if fees were turned on at token launch.” Adams also described new “protocol fee discount auctions” to improve LP outcomes and internalize MEV, and an “aggregator hooks” architecture in v4 that would let the protocol capture fees sourced from external liquidity. In parallel, Uniswap Labs would stop charging fees on its interface, wallet, and API to push distribution and adoption, while Uniswap Foundation staff move to Labs under a growth mandate funded by the treasury. The net effect is a consolidation: Uniswap’s development, growth and fee policy would be operated under a single, explicitly token-aligned structure, with governance retaining control. Price action reflected Ki Young Ju’s comment. UNI spiked to multi-week highs as coverage spread. In early European trading hours, UNI showed a one-day gain near 30% while many majors treaded water, underscoring UNI’s idiosyncratic governance-driven rally. Beyond headline burns, the crux is whether the economic flywheel can be sustained without degrading liquidity provider economics. Historically, Uniswap governance has wrestled with “fee switch” design trade-offs and the risk of disintermediating LPs or pushing order flow elsewhere. Related Reading: Samourai Wallet Co-Founder Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison For Money Laundering Adams argued this blueprint is different because fee proceeds are not distributed as passive yield but are instead destroyed to concentrate value into the remaining float, while discount auctions and MEV internalization are meant to keep LPs competitive on net execution. The full rationale and parameterization—fee rates, split between pools, cadence for auctions, and the exact mechanics of the burn—are laid out in the governance post now in “Requests for Comment,” with implementation subject to the usual forum review and on-chain governance process. Adams cast the proposal as an existential scaling step: “I believe Uniswap protocol can be the primary place tokens are traded. This proposal sets the stage for the next decade of its growth […] Uniswap will ship relentlessly over the coming years and supercharge the ecosystem of developers, LPs, and traders,” he wrote. According to estimates by MegaETH Labs member BREAD, if Uniswap were to modify its standard 0.3% trading fee so that 0.25% is allocated to liquidity providers and 0.05% directed toward UNI buybacks, the protocol could channel roughly $38 million into monthly repurchases. This projection is based on an annualized fee revenue of approximately $2.8 billion and would position Uniswap’s buyback capacity slightly above PUMP’s $35 million pace, yet still below HYPE’s $95 million benchmark. At press time, UNI traded at $8.609. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams and key Uniswap Foundation leaders proposed a plan to burn UNI tokens and merge the organizations.
The proposal, called “UNIfication,” would activate protocol fees, burn millions of UNI tokens and consolidate the project’s key teams under a single strategy.
Uniswap (UNI) has been consolidating since the October 10 market crash, with price action stabilizing but volatility still lingering. The decentralized exchange (DEX) token has struggled to regain its previous momentum, reflecting the broader uncertainty across the altcoin market. Analysts remain divided on its short-term outlook — some view Uniswap as a key driver of Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem and a potential leader in the next recovery phase, while others caution that lingering liquidity stress and waning trader activity could spark more turbulence ahead. Related Reading: Bitcoin Supply In Profit Rises To 83.6% – Market Momentum Building Again Despite this cautious backdrop, new on-chain data suggests a shift may be underway. According to CryptoQuant insights, Binance whales have become increasingly active on UNI, with large transactions and outflows spiking to multi-month highs. Historically, this type of whale behavior — especially when coupled with heavy exchange outflows — has been associated with accumulation phases and strategic repositioning by major players. As Uniswap’s fundamentals remain solid, with trading volumes and user engagement steadily recovering, the renewed whale activity could indicate that smart money is quietly preparing for the next market leg. Whether this accumulation marks the early stages of a trend reversal or just a temporary pause before further volatility remains to be seen. Uniswap Exchange Outflows Hit Multi-Month Highs In recent days, Uniswap’s native token, UNI, has seen a notable uptick in large-scale activity, signaling renewed interest from major market participants. According to on-chain data from CryptoQuant, whale wallets — typically identified by the top 10 largest transactions — have begun moving significant amounts of UNI out of Binance. These outflows represent transfers from exchange wallets to external addresses, a behavior that often indicates accumulation or long-term repositioning by large holders rather than short-term trading. The data highlights a daily peak of 17,400 UNI withdrawn from Binance, alongside a monthly peak of 5,250 UNI, marking a three-month high in whale activity. Historically, such outflow spikes tend to occur during accumulation phases, as whales seek to reduce exposure to centralized exchanges and secure tokens for longer-term holding or staking opportunities. This renewed movement comes at a time when UNI is still digesting the market correction that began in July, with prices stabilizing but failing to regain strong upward momentum. Analysts interpret this surge in whale activity as a potential early indicator of confidence returning to the asset. If sustained, it could mark the beginning of a structural reversal — a shift from post-crash consolidation to the early stages of renewed accumulation and recovery. Related Reading: Digital Yen Goes Live: JPYC EX Integrates Traditional Finance With DeFi UNI Price Analysis: Consolidation Persists as Whales Reenter the Market Uniswap (UNI) continues to consolidate near the $6.50 level after a sharp correction that began in July 2025. The weekly chart shows a prolonged period of sideways movement following a breakdown from the $12 resistance zone, where bullish momentum previously failed to sustain. Despite multiple attempts to rebound, UNI remains below the 50-week and 200-week moving averages, both of which now act as dynamic resistance levels. The recent price action reflects investor hesitation, with the broader market still digesting the effects of the October 10 crash. However, volume analysis indicates that selling pressure has started to decline, suggesting that sellers may be exhausting and that accumulation could be forming at current levels. Related Reading: Ethereum OG Drives $500M Liquidity Flow Into ConcreteXYZ & Stable Vaults – Details From a technical perspective, the $6.00–$6.20 zone serves as immediate support, while a decisive reclaim above $8.00 would be required to shift market structure toward a potential mid-term recovery. Interestingly, the recent whale accumulation reported by on-chain data aligns with this stabilization phase — a pattern often seen near cyclical bottoms. If Uniswap maintains support and market sentiment improves, UNI could attempt to retest the $10–$12 zone in the coming months. Conversely, a failure to hold above $6 could open the door for a retest of the 2024 range lows around $4. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com