Crypto Spotlight: UNI

UNI (Uniswap) is one of our great new additions to the Wirex app. Curious about it, but haven’t heard of it before? Here’s a little insight for you.

What is UNI?

UNI runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It aims to provide a service similar to a traditional exchange by using several crypto assets.

Who created UNI?

UNI was founded and released in 2018 by Hayden Adams.

What does it do?

UNI’s primary aim is to help users buy and sell crypto assets in a similar manner to a traditional exchange. The only difference is that is does not have a central operator or administrator.

UNI uses a collection of liquidity pools to which users can contribute by locking two assets into a smart contract. A liquidity pool typically holds two tokens. For example, a DAI/ETH pool would contain equal values of these crypto deposits.

These users (AKA liquidity providers) are then given a portion of the trading fees, depending on how much they contributed.

Moreover, like YFI, UNI token holders also have the capacity to vote on important proposals. Specifically, they can vote on proposals that could potentially advance Uniswap’s development and ecosystem.

What makes it unique?

UNI is unique in how it aims to mirror traditional exchanges. Additionally, it uses a protocol that’s owned and operated by its users. It also provides traders with access to newer and less liquid cryptocurrency, which they may not find on traditional exchanges.