Decentralized finance (DeFi) exchange Uniswap recorded in November its highest-ever monthly trading volume across Ethereum layer-2 networks.
According to data from Dune Analytics, the exchange processed $38 billion in volume across networks such as Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism, and Base, marking a $4 billion increase over its previous record set in March.
Henrik Andersson, chief investment officer at Apollo Crypto, attributed the surge in Uniswap’s volume to growing demand for assets and stablecoins within the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. He noted that this uptick aligns with the broader “DeFi renaissance” and the recent rally in ETH/BTC. “On-chain yields are also rising, which adds to the momentum,” Andersson said, adding that the recent growth could signal a period of sustained outperformance for the Ethereum ecosystem.
The largest share of Uniswap’s volume came from Arbitrum, which accounted for $19.5 billion. The Base network, incubated by Coinbase, followed closely with $13 billion in volume.
In terms of fees, Uniswap ranked as the sixth-largest protocol, earning over $90 million in the past month. This placed it ahead of other notable protocols like Solana’s memecoin launchpad Pump.fun, as well as Tron and Maker.
The surge in trading activity has also benefited Uniswap’s native UNI token, which saw a 42% increase in value over the past week. As of publication, UNI was priced at $12.58, up 10% in the past 24 hours. The gains outpaced that of other decentralized exchange tokens, including Solana-based Raydium (RAY), which dropped 2.2% over the week, and Jupiter (JUP), which gained 7.7%.
Uniswap stands as the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) when it comes to daily trading volumes, holding a 22.5% market share. This surge in regulatory scrutiny arrives shortly after a comparable subpoena was sent to Uniswap’s competitor, SushiSwap, indicating an ongoing trend of increased regulatory attention on decentralized trading platforms.
In their response to the Wells notice, Uniswap Labs contended that their protocol does not qualify as an exchange under current definitions and is not subject to SEC regulation. The company stated that although it created the protocol, it is now a “passive” technology used for cryptocurrency trading.
