Uniswap (UNI) is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for trading ERC-20 tokens. A decentralized exchange such as UNI does not rely on an order book like a centralized exchange (CEX) would commonly use.
Last year saw the launch of UNI-V2 along with a substantial rise amongst active users in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. Along with this increase in activity came a few milestones that put in perspective just how revolutionary this technology is despite little to no mainstream press. According to Ethereum (ETH) based startup company ConsenSys Inc., UNI dominated the world of DeFi in the second quarter of 2020, with 1,625 DEX “super-users” – these are users who traded on a DEX over 100 times in a single month.
"Super-User" Growth in Q2
Reports at the time alleged that the decentralized finance super-user growth increased by nearly 20% in Quarter 2. The quarterly report published by ConsenSys this past summer broke down the growth of super-users according to the three most popular interaction metrics within the DeFi ecosystem:
- 1,625 super-users lead the way on UNI.
- Kyber Network (KNC) placed 2nd with their total number of super-users equating to 916.
- Compound (COMP) ranked third with a modest count of 367 super-users.
The substantial growth experienced by the UNI protocol over the past year has been turning heads, and with good reason – UNI dominated the DeFi markets with a trading volume accounting for 41% of the market share among every DEX.
Token Airdrop Spurs Growth in Q3
UNI revealed its native governance token on September 17th in 2020. The token airdrop made waves through the DeFi space, further extending the hype surrounding UNI's parabolic rise. According to the official Uniswap blog, these new tokens were distributed with allocations going to community members, team members and employees, investors, and advisors – at a ratio of 60%, 21.51%, 17.8%, and 0.69% respectively.
Why It Matters
Overall, UNI grew by over 50% in Q2 of 2020. This solidified in the minds of many that the Uniswap DEX and DeFi as a whole were here to stay. By demonstrating continued success and sustainability through the UNI-V2 protocol, Uniswap has paved the way for the future of decentralized exchanges.
