Uniswap (UNI) is the token of the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) in crypto — the place where huge amounts of tokens get swapped without any company or middleman. Instead of a traditional order book, it pioneered 'automated market makers': pools of tokens that anyone can trade against, with prices set by a formula, and anyone can supply liquidity to earn fees. It's foundational DeFi infrastructure that countless apps and traders rely on. UNI is its governance token — holders vote on how the protocol runs. Historically UNI was criticized as a 'valueless' governance token because it didn't share in the protocol's fees, but that changed recently (see below).
Where it stands today: Uniswap remains the dominant DEX, and 2026 brought its biggest tokenomics shift ever — the long-awaited 'fee switch' went live, so protocol fees now buy and burn UNI, turning it from a passive governance token into a deflationary asset tied to real trading volume. The treasury also permanently burned a large chunk of UNI. On the tech side, 'V4' introduced customizable 'hooks' (plugins that let developers build advanced features into pools), and Uniswap launched its own Layer 2, 'Unichain', to capture more activity and revenue. Even institutions (BlackRock routing a tokenized fund through it) are using it. Notably, despite the fee switch and burns, UNI still hit a cycle low — a reminder that value-accrual mechanics don't guarantee price. So today it's the blue-chip DEX finally giving its token a real claim on revenue, in a still-tough market.