Uniswap Launches on Polygon, Driving MATIC to All-Time Highs

The popular decentralized exchange has deployed on Polygon in a bid to attract more retail traders.

AccessTimeIconDec 22, 2021 at 7:01 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 6:12 p.m. UTC

Popular decentralized exchange Uniswap and Ethereum scaling system Polygon said Wednesday that all Uniswap version 3 contracts are now deployed to the Polygon mainnet.

The deployment comes a few days after UNI holders voted to pass a governance proposal approving the deployment. The price of MATIC and Uniswap’s UNI token were higher on the news, with MATIC, the native asset of the Polygon network, hitting a fresh all-time high of $2.66 earlier today.

“Ethereum introduced a noble vision of an open, borderless economic system accessible to everyone,” Mihailo Bjelic, co-founder of Polygon, told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat. “With the increased usage, fees on Ethereum layer 1 have effectively ‘priced out’ most of the users.”

The Polygon version of Uniswap aims to change that, he added.

“With this deployment, Uniswap as the flagship Ethereum application returns back to the original vision and again offers low fees and open access to everyone,” Bjelic said.

As the largest DEX by trading volume, Uniswap is already deployed on two companion, or layer 2, systems, Arbitrum and Optimism. According to data from Defi Llama, about $62.19 million in value is locked on Uniswap on Arbitrum, while roughly $36.94 million worth of tokens are locked on the Optimism version.

Both numbers are much smaller than the total value locked (TVL) on the Ethereum mainnet version of Uniswap, a staggering $8.75 billion.

That said, Uniswap’s TVL lags behind Curve’s $22.23 billion, the biggest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol by that metric. Curve currently supports several blockchains and layer 2 systems including Avalanche, Harmony and Polygon.

Bjelic, the Polygon co-founder, told CoinDesk Uniswap will be hugely successful on Polygon, citing the network’s already successful DeFi ecosystem. Polygon is currently the No. 7 chain by TVL, per Defi Llama data.

A report by blockchain data firm Chainalysis earlier this year said DeFi is still dominated by experienced crypto traders and investors, partly due to the costly transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain. Scaling projects like Polygon have benefited from Ethereum’s congestion problem.

UPDATE (Dec. 22, 19:23 UTC): Changes headline to indicate fluid timing of tech launch.

UPDATE (Dec. 22, 20:38 UTC): Changes headline to reflect that the deployment is now live.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Muyao Shen

Muyao was a markets reporter at CoinDesk.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about