Tech

Has Uniswap shattered the basics of DeFi with this update?

10/16/2023
Bitcoin Ethereum News

  • Uniswap introduced a permission off-chain option to its purported permissionless wallet.
  • While active addresses decreased, android users are eagerly waiting to integrate the wallet.

One reason Uniswap [UNI] has been able to amass a lot of users is that the protocol allows connection to the exchange with a personalized blockchain wallet under the full control of the users. 

Realistic or not, here’s UNI’s market cap in BTC terms

However, there might have been a change to the terms and conditions which seems to undermine the fundamentals of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) which Uniswap claims to hold in high esteem.

Is Uniswap moving toward centralization?

On 14 October, the protocol came under intense criticism from yourfriendSOMML, a crypto insight provider on X (formerly Twitter). According to yourfriendSOMML, Uniswap has now introduced a Know-Your-Customer (KYC) option on its v4 and was also going off the permissionless feature it offers on Uniswap X.

When the Automated Market Maker (AMM) launched Uniswap X in July, it mentioned that the aggregate trading protocol would be permissionless across all liquidity sources.

But with a “permission required” option on its off-chain servers, Uniswap may be tilting towards replicating one of the reasons market participants evade using Centralized Exchanges (CEXes).

The disclosure was also accompanied by criticism from the Uniswap community. Besides the reproval, the trading volume on the DEX has been affected. According to Token Terminal, Uniswap’s trading volume was down to $280.7 million at press time — a 50.9% decrease in the last 24 hours.

Trading volume on the Uniswap DEX

Source: Token Terminal

The drop in trading volume on the exchange means that there have been hesitant buyers and sellers. So, Uniswap may also experience a drop in fees generated by the protocol.

Activity drops, but left-out prospects join

Like the trading volume, active addresses on the Uniswap protocol have decreased. According to Santiment, the seven-day active addresses were down to 756.  But between 13 and 14 October, the metric was much higher.

Active addresses show the number of unique addresses transacting on a network. When the metric increases, it is a sign of increased interaction with the project. However, the decrease suggests that market participants are refraining from making transactions on the protocol.

How much are 1,10,100 UNIs worth today?

For the Network Growth, on-chain data showed that the metric also fell. At press time, Uniswap’s Network Growth was down to 237. This fall is proof that new addresses joining the network were not necessarily impressive. Hence, Uniswap could not boast of a hike in traction.

Uniswap active addresses and network growth

Source: Santiment

Despite the criticism around the KYC update, Uniswap seemed to be excelling in other areas. Lately, the protocol launched its wallet for Android devices, and according to its post on X, over 130,000 prospective users were on its waitlist.

Source: https://ambcrypto.com/has-uniswap-shattered-the-basics-of-defi-with-this-update/