Uniswap Launches Unichain, a Layer-2 Blockchain Built on Optimism's Superchain Infrastructure

Uniswap has launched its proprietary blockchain, Unichain, taking another significant step in advancing the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

Uniswap has launched a proprietary blockchain called Unichain, designed to enhance cross-chain exchanges and optimize L2 network liquidity.

Built on Optimism's Superchain infrastructure, Unichain aims to resolve the fragmentation of liquidity and offer near-instant transactions by integrating Flashbots. This integration reduces losses due to miner-extractable value (MEV) and enhances the user experience.

However, despite Unichain's launch, traction has been minimal. According to IntotheBlock, TVL (Total Value Locked) had risen to $3 million in the first week, with an average daily trade volume of $1 million.

As more cross-chain exchanges launch and protocols integrate the chain, Unichain has the potential to become a leading L2 solution, boosting transactional volumes within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Uniswap's governance token, UNI, has faced market challenges. Despite the launch of Unichain, UNI has lost around 25% in value over the past 30 days.

Transaction volumes have also remained flat, showing no signs of surges despite the excitement surrounding recent launches by Uniswap.

Market participants are closely observing the situation, waiting to see if the adoption of Unichain will lead to direct rewards for UNI holders. At the moment, the lack of significant surges in trade volume suggests that the market has yet to fully embrace the potential of this new blockchain.

In other news, Ethereum's ecosystem has seen an update with an increase in gas limits on the mainnet. This effectively expands block sizes and reduces transaction costs, with gas fees dipping down to multi-year lows of less than 1 gwei per transaction.

The change is part of the preparations for the Pectra upgrade, scheduled for March 2025, which aims to enhance scalability and increase the inclusion rate of L2 transactions per batch (blobs per block).

However, the immediate impact on transactions is minimal, with transactions per day maxing out at 1.34 million after the adjustment, lower than the month highs.