Uniswap Labs announced on Thursday that it will establish a new layer-2 network, Unichain, using Optimism technology.
Uniswap Labs announced on Thursday that it will establish a new layer-2 network, Unichain, using Optimism technology. The move comes with the hopes of solving persistent crypto problems: expensive transactions, low speeds, and fragmented liquidity.
The new chain will be powered by Optimism Superchain, a back-end that empowers smooth interaction between different Ethereum layer-2s, among them popular ones such as Worldcoin, Mantle, and Base.
"After years of building and scaling DeFi products, we’ve seen where blockchains need improvement and what’s required to continue advancing Ethereum’s roadmap," said Uniswap Labs' CEO Hayden Adams. "Unichain will deliver the speed and cost savings already enabled by L2s, but with better access to liquidity across chains and more decentralization.”
The launch comes at a time when Uniswap's financial performance has been remarkably strong. Recent data from DefiLlama shows that the platform has raked in an impressive $52.75 million in fee revenue between April and September 2024, after hiking its user-interface swap fee to 0.25% on most trading pairs.
One of the critical qualities of Unichain is that in the long run, it does have the potential to solve one of the most persistent problems: the fragmentation of liquidity within the cryptocurrency market. Currently, different tokens are scattered among several layer-2 networks, and seldom can you use one network together with another. By leveraging the Optimism Superchain, Unichain hopes to create a more unified and streamlined trading experience.
Development on Unichain was carried out in collaboration with expertise from Uniswap Foundation, Optimism, and Flashbots. More innovative features will be implemented on the network, such as a TEE that will ensure the proper functioning of this place, and a community validation network, collectively referred to as the "Community Network," which also contributes to the security and transparency of the platform.
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