Uniswap UNI
Strong evidence Evidence 100%
Key facts
Why
Uniswap Labs founder/CEO Hayden Adams (Wikipedia). Uniswap Foundation founded 2022 by Devin Walsh and Ken Ng. Early investors named: a16z, Paradigm, Union Square Ventures, ParaFi.
sourceWhy
Protocol fees can only be turned on or changed by UNI governance vote (Snapshot then onchain GovernorBravo through the Timelock 0x1a9C...35BC). v2 fee levels are hardcoded; v3 factory owner is set to the fee controller. UNI token contract has a minter role that can mint up to 2% of total supply once per year (minter can set a new minter); I did not verify the current minter address, which is expected to be governance Timelock. No multisig was found in sources read; governance-plus-timelock is the closest category. The Labs growth budget is paid to Uniswap Labs under a service agreement.
source source sourceWhy
The UNIfication proposal creates an annual growth budget of 20M UNI to Uniswap Labs, distributed quarterly via the UNIVesting contract from 2026-01-01 (5,000,000 UNI per 91.25 days). 20M / 1,000M UNI nominal supply (Etherscan; CoinGecko total supply 887.3M after the 100M burn) = 2.0% (2.25% of 887.3M). Original team/investor vesting is not in this figure (not read). The UNI contract also allows a governance mint of up to 2% per year; none counted because no mint is scheduled.
source source sourcePrice beside proof
How measured
DefiLlama parent 'Uniswap' entry (V1-V4), trailing 1 year (total1y). Fees = swap fees paid by users (most go to liquidity providers). Revenue = protocol fee share used to buy back and burn UNI; the fee switch started on Ethereum 2025-12-28 and rolled out to more chains through 2026-07-27, so most of the 12 months pre-date full activation. Currency not stated on API page (assumed USD).
How counted
Etherscan states top 100 holders own 82.24% and the largest holder is 'Uniswap V2: UNI Timelock' (26.22%); the 0x...dEaD burn address holds 11.26%; exchange wallets are among top 100. A top-10 figure itself was not shown on the page, so no value is given.
Context only: not scored and not a valuation. Aggregator data as of 7 Oct 2026.
Today's price, and what it would take
Snapshot from the aggregator on 7 Oct 2026. The live price loads from CoinGecko when your browser allows it.
Pick a multiple of the last 12 months of fees. The tool shows the token price that multiple would imply with today's supply. The multiple is your assumption, not our estimate. The market pays 5 x annual fees today.
Fees are what users pay, not what holders receive: how much reaches token holders depends on the design (burns, treasury, fee switches, validators). The result ignores issuance, risk, growth and time. A lens to ask questions, not a valuation or advice.
Where the points come from
Incidents and legal actions
Incidents
- None found in our search.
Regulator and court actions
- 2024-09-04 CFTC order found Uniswap Labs (Universal Navigation Inc.) illegally offered leveraged or margined retail commodity transactions in digital assets via a limited number of leveraged tokens that did not result in actual delivery within 28 days. Outcome: Ordered to pay a $175,000 civil monetary penalty (reduced for cooperation) and to cease and desist from violating the Commodity Exchange Act as charged. Smaller fine, settlement or restriction source
- 2025-02-25 SEC investigation of Uniswap Labs, which had issued a Wells notice in April 2024 alleging the Uniswap interface operated as an unregistered exchange and broker-dealer, was closed. Outcome: SEC reportedly would not pursue enforcement (WSJ via The Block; announced by Uniswap Labs). No fine. SEC primary document not read. Dismissed or closed, no merits finding source
What we could not verify
Not verified: top-10 holder percentage (only top-100 and individual rows summarised by the fetch); country of incorporation of Universal Navigation Inc.; original (2020) team/investor vesting status; current holder of the UNI minter role; the SEC closure from a primary SEC document; whether v2/v3 core contracts have been audited by named firms (not read here). DefiLlama API pages do not state currency; fee/revenue totals are DefiLlama parent-entry sums.
Facts as of 7 Oct 2026. Searches are not exhaustive. Report an error with a source: corrections policy. Education only, not investment advice.
Sources
- [1] CoinGecko Uniswap accessed 2026-10-07
- [2] DefiLlama fees API Uniswap (fees) accessed 2026-10-07
- [3] DefiLlama fees API Uniswap (revenue) accessed 2026-10-07
- [4] Kraken UNI price page accessed 2026-10-07
- [5] Wikipedia Uniswap accessed 2026-10-07
- [6] CFTC press release 8961-24 (Uniswap Labs) accessed 2026-10-07
- [7] The Block: SEC drops Uniswap Labs investigation accessed 2026-10-07
- [8] OpenZeppelin: Uniswap v4 core audit accessed 2026-10-07
- [9] OpenZeppelin: UNIVesting audit accessed 2026-10-07
- [10] Uniswap governance: UNIfication proposal accessed 2026-10-07
- [11] The Block: UNIfication passes accessed 2026-10-07
- [12] Uniswap Uni.sol (mint cap) accessed 2026-10-07
- [13] Etherscan UNI holders chart accessed 2026-10-07
- [14] Uniswap protocol-fees repository accessed 2026-10-07
- [15] Uniswap v4-core repository accessed 2026-10-07
- [16] Uniswap docs: governance contracts accessed 2026-10-07
Common questions about Uniswap
Is Uniswap a good investment?
This page does not say, and it is not investment advice. It shows what can be checked. In our pilot check, Uniswap shows strong evidence, score 96 out of 100, with 100% of the evidence verified. Price and market value are context, not a valuation. Use the key facts and sources above and decide for yourself.
Who controls Uniswap?
Control risk: Timelocked governance. Details and sources are in the key facts above.
Has Uniswap been independently audited?
Independent audit: Published. Details and sources are in the key facts above.
How much new UNI supply is coming in the next 12 months?
New supply in the next 12 months: 2% of the current supply. Details and sources are in the key facts above.
Does Uniswap have revenue we can check?
Revenue evidence: Checkable on-chain. Details and sources are in the key facts above.