Uniswap Launches Its Layer-2 Network Unichain on Mainnet

Uniswap just released its new Unichain protocol on the mainnet after a few months of testing. This feature will encourage cross-chain liquidity and overall efficiency for the firm’s ecosystem.

Uniswap’s UNI token has fallen dramatically over the last month, but this launch has generated bullish momentum. Unichain’s testnet saw 95 million transactions and over 14.7 million smart contracts deployed by the community in the past four months.

Uniswap Launches Unichain

Uniswap, a popular Ethereum-based decentralized exchange, has undergone several changes recently. Earlier this month, it launched the long-awaited v4 upgrade, which heralded a new era of changing features.

Today, Uniswap is following up on these changes, by finally releasing Unichain on mainnet.

“Unichain is built differently. We’re here to make DeFi faster, cheaper, more decentralized, which is why we launched Unichain to be permissionless from day one,” Hayden Adams, Founder and CEO of Uniswap Labs, said in a press release.

According to Uniswap, Unichain is a fast, decentralized L2 Superchain that will supposedly revolutionize efficiency and liquidity on the protocol.

It will help Uniswap’s users become better integrated with DeFi through increased cross-chain functionality, and the firm is temporarily waiving fees to encourage further adoption.

So far, the Unichain upgrade has had a positive price impact on Uniswap’s UNI token. The firm began testing Unichain in October 2024, and this immediately caused a 10% spike for UNI.

Over the past few weeks, its price has been steadily declining, but this release has evidently generated some forward momentum.

Uniswap (UNI) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto

This does, however, raise an important question. Why has the Unichain launch been relatively bullish if Uniswap v4 caused disappointing gains? The v4 upgrade was announced in June 2023, but Unichain had a much shorter cycle between announcement and release.

Perhaps Uniswap v4 had over-inflated expectations, while this has been more of a sleeper hit. Of course, this release is also very recent. The Uniswap v4 mainnet launch also caused an immediate price jump, but it vanished by the end of the day.

Perhaps this update will have a similar impact in the long term. For now, however, Unichain is here, and it will likely increase engagement in the DEX’s ecosystem.