The leading Ethereum decentralized exchange, Uniswap, contributes substantially more volume to layer 2 blockchains compared to the activity seen two years ago.
The decentralized exchange (DEX) accounts for around 37% of the total trading volume on layer 2 while running atop crypto’s second-largest blockchain, Ethereum (ETH).
21.co researcher Tom Wan noted that the platform’s L2 volumes experienced more than 650% growth in 24 months, increasing from around $4 billion in 2022 to over $30 billion this year. The analysts added that this trend could strengthen even further if more quality protocols launch on layer 2 networks like Arbitrum, Coinbase’s Base, and Optimism.
“L2s have been gaining more economic activities, specifically Base and Arbitrum, which account for 82% of the total L2 volume on Uniswap. I would expect the dominance of L2s’ volume on Uniswap will continue to grow to 50% by the end of this year.”
Tom Wan, 21.co researcher
Data showed that the exchange has only contributed 2.9% of the total volume on altcoin L1s, but Wan opined that this narrative may see a shift in the future. Wan explained that high-performance EVM-compatible L1s combined with a multichain expansion strategy could allow the DEX to capture more volume on networks like Sei and Monad.
UNI DEX volume sheet | Source: Tom Wan, 21.co via Dune Analytics
Crackdown on Uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) was the first DEX on Ethereum and remains the largest on-chain trading venue on the crypto L1 blockchain. The protocol boasts over $2 trillion in cumulative trading volume in 17 chains. DefiLlama states users have also deposited more than $5.5 billion in total value-locked.
Uniswap stats | Source: DefiLlama
Founded in 2017 by Hayden Adams, the Brooklyn-based crypto service provider now faces possible enforcement action from the U.S. SEC, which is currently embroiled in a broad crypto industry crackdown.
As crypto.news reported, the SEC served Adams’ business a Wells Notice, and the DEX intends to defend itself against a “disappointing but not surprising” decision.
Read more: Crypto industry furious as SEC goes after Uniswap
