Uniswap Founder Warns Ethereum Could Lose DeFi Edge to Solana

Hayden Adams, the creator of Uniswap, has raised a red flag for the Ethereum community, warning that a failure to double down on Layer 2 (L2) scaling could cost the network its dominance in the DeFi space.

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams has warned that Ethereum could lose its edge in DeFi to Solana if it fails to double down on Layer 2 scaling.

Adams, known for his role in popularizing Uniswap and L2s within the Ethereum community, is surprised to see some pivoting towards a Layer 1–centric vision at this stage.

“We've been discussing and preparing for an L2-centric roadmap with Uniswap for over 5 years now. Why would we abandon that at the final hurdle?”

His comments come amid a broader discussion on Ethereum’s long-term scaling strategy and whether it can continue leading the DeFi sector in the face of growing Solana momentum.

Solana’s simplicity gains ground

While Ethereum works to mature its modular scaling ecosystem, Solana is aggressively advancing on-chain DeFi with fast, low-cost transactions directly on its base layer.

Adams highlighted that Solana’s design makes it more straightforward to execute DeFi on Layer 1, without the need for rollups or bridging.

“It bums me out to see people pivoting towards L1-centrism at this stage. You want to throw away 5+ years of the 'Uniswap is L2 centric' narrative because...?”

Hayden Adams (@haydenzadams) April 19, 2025

Ethereum still holds the DeFi crown with over $47 billion in TVL, but Solana is gaining ground as a lighter, faster alternative—especially appealing to new builders.

Frustration in the ethereum ecosystem grows

Adams' warning follows concerns raised by some Ethereum developers over the network's current direction. Earlier this year, Ethereum core dev Max Resnick left the project for Solana, criticizing slow innovation at the base layer and what he called a “rigid developer culture.”

This reflects broader community concerns about Ethereum's deliberate pace and heavy dependence on L2 solutions like rollups to handle scaling.

Despite these concerns, Adams remains committed to Ethereum's L2 roadmap and urges the community not to pivot hastily.

“Solana's doing a great job. But Ethereum still has the lead...if we don't fumble it.”

I’m all for scaling improvements to L1, the rollup centric roadmap actually requires it

The thing I’m against is confused takes where ethereum is on a “rollup centric roadmap” but all the important things still have to live on L1 and we need L2s to scale but we don’t support...— Hayden Adams 🦄 (@haydenzadams) April 19, 2025