Uniswap came about as a plan to introduce AMMs on Ethereum to a wider audience. The platform’s creator is Ethereum developer Hayden Adams.
Adams worked in various projects while finalizing Uniswap, and his work was informed directly by Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin. Buterin even ended up giving the protocol its name — it was originally known as Unipeg.
One of the major AMMs in operation at present, the protocol functions using a formula for automated exchange — X x Y = K. Founder Hayden Adams describes himself as the inventor of the particular implementation of the formula on Uniswap.
Uniswap is not just a decentralized exchange; it attempts to solve the issues that platforms such as EtherDelta experienced with liquidity.
How Many Uniswap (UNI) Coins Are There In Circulation?
The total supply of Uniswap’s governance token, UNI, is 1 billion units. These will become available over the course of four years, after which Uniswap will introduce a “perpetual inflation rate” of 2% to maintain network participation.
Out of the majority set to go to users, 15% can be claimed by those who used Uniswap prior to Sep. 1, 2020. These even include users who submitted transactions which were never successful — they are eligible for 400 UNI.
Uniswap is a decentralized protocol for trading, and UNI is its in-house governance token. UNI is an ERC-20 token, meaning it requires Ethereum to function.
Separately, smart contracts can cause security issues that could lead to DeFi traders losing funds; in fact, hackers have already succeeded in stealing millions of dollars in DeFi’s short lifetime as of fall 2020.
These include Binance, OKEx and Coinbase Pro, along with, naturally, Uniswap’s protocol itself.
You can read more about how to enter the cryptocurrency market, no matter what token you plan to purchase, here.
