Crypto Analyst Presents Uniswap’s UNI As The Next Coin Primed For Breakout

Several altcoins are currently on the rise following Bitcoin’s resurgence, and popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez has singled out the Uniswap UNI token as one of those tokens that could rally further as he projects that UNI is set to break out soon from its current resistance level. 

Why Uniswap Is Poised For A Breakout

In a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) platform, Martinez noted that the majority of UNI holders were positioned ‘Out of the Money,’ which suggests that the token was preparing for a breakout. Accompanying his post was data from the crypto analytics platform Intotheblock based on the ‘Historical In/Out of the Money’ metric.

The data shows that over 75% of the token holders are ‘out of the money’, which means that they were yet to break even in their investments as the average cost price at which they bought these tokens is greater than its current price. 

Uniswap UNIMore addresses are out of the money | Source: IntoTheBlock

Furthermore, the crypto analyst explained that selling pressure has gotten exhausted and that the UNI token has been able to build “an important support” level at around $4. This could serve as a lift-off point for the altcoin.

Key Supply Walls UNI Needs To Break

To further support his breakout theory, Martinez noted two supply walls that UNI “needs” to overcome in order to signal a bullish breakout. According to him, one of these supply walls is at $4.23, where data from Intotheblock shows that 7,000 addresses have bought 14.24 million worth of UNI. 

The other supply wall is at $4.45, where data from Intotheblock shows that 2,000 Uniswap addresses have accumulated 10.28 million worth of UNI. Whales and institutional players may also be aware of this potential breakout and may be looking to position themselves, as Martinez noted. 

The crypto analyst also recently commented on a potential Ethereum breakout. In a different post on his X platform, he said that the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap will need to overcome the huge supply wall at $1,960, where data from Intotheblock showed that 1.14 million addresses bought close to 33 million ETH.

Meanwhile, Martinez believes that now is a good time for people to accumulate Bitcoin based on his examination of the past two cycles from the market bottom and the present Bitcoin trend. According to him, a similar trajectory points to the next Bitcoin market top being around October 2025.

At the time of writing, the UNI token is trading at around $4.10, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

Uniswap UNI price chart from Tradingview.com (Crypto analyst)

Uniswap Foundation’s Unexpected $43 Million Token Sale: What’s Going On?

The spotlight has recently turned towards the Uniswap Foundation following notable shifts in its holding patterns. Uniswap Foundation, which backs the development and expansion of the Uniswap (UNI) protocol, made headlines for its sale of the platform’s native tokens. 

Uniswap’s UNI token has maintained its position as a prominent digital asset in decentralized finance (DeFi). Yet, the recently reported sale by the foundation responsible for its proliferation raises questions regarding its long-term strategy and the implications for the wider UNI ecosystem.

$43 Million Uniswap Token Sale Capture Attention

Recent data suggests that the Uniswap Foundation moved roughly $43.3 million worth of UNI tokens within three days. This activity becomes even more interesting when considering that substantial movements of UNI tokens from the foundation’s wallet have been rare over the past two years, according to data from Etherscan.

In a disclosure by the renowned on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain, the foundation reportedly transferred 6.8 million UNI tokens (valued at $29.16 million) to a new digital wallet.

A segment of these tokens also reached FalconX, a recognized digital asset trading platform. Adding another layer to this saga, Lookonchain unveiled that three million UNI tokens, translating to $13 million, were sold via the Kraken exchange deposit address affiliated with the automated market maker Wintermute.

The timing of this sale coincided with a period of significant gains for the UNI token, according to Lookonchain.

Further Insights Into The Foundation’s Token Activities

PeckShieldAlert, a renowned market risk assessment entity, also highlighted that the Uniswap Foundation had relocated nearly ten million UNI tokens to four distinct addresses.

With the cumulative value pegged at approximately $43.3 million, according to PeckShieldAlert, these revelations raise further questions about the foundation’s objectives behind these token sales.

Shedding light on the inflow of tokens to the foundation’s wallet, data from Etherscan documented the receipt of 10,685,984 UNI from a wallet labeled “Uniswap V2: UNI Timeblock” on October 20.

Meanwhile, regardless of the sell-off from the Uniswap Foundation, the UNI token has been in green over the past week, up by 7.5%. This bullishness appears due to the current global crypto uptrend sentiment, especially with Bitcoin up by more than 20% in the past 7 days.

Uniswap (UNI) price chart on TradingView

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

Uniswap Is Decentralizing: Why Are DeFi Users Worried About This Feature?

Devin Walsh, Executive Director of the Uniswap Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting the growth and decentralization of the Uniswap decentralized exchange (DEX), believes that Uniswap is decentralizing. Walsh even compares the current state of the DEX to that of Ethereum. The executive also acknowledged that the DEX’s current level of success is due to the active participation and contribution of the developer community.

Uniswap Becoming More Decentralized?

The Executive Director responded to a thread on X where Antonio Juliano, the founder of dYxX, a layer-2 DEX on Ethereum, insinuated that Uniswap is now centralized. However, it started on a decentralized path. 

With centralization, Juliano added, the protocol can iterate quickly, mainly to boost revenue. On the other hand, by being more decentralized, dapps allow users to enjoy the full advantages of decentralized finance (DeFi).

Decentralization of protocols launching on public ledgers, like Ethereum or Cardano, is crucial. Usually, the community will gauge how well a dapp is decentralized by looking at, among other factors, how decisions are made and which party spearheads development. 

In the case of Ethereum, Walsh pointed out that the community has taken over from where Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder; and Consensys, a technology company developing solutions for Ethereum, left. Since then, multiple developers have been refining the network and ensuring it is secure and robust to anchor dapps.

Uniswap is one of the most popular DEXes on Ethereum, looking at total value locked (TVL). DeFiLlama data shows that the exchange manages over $3 billion of assets and is primarily active on Ethereum. However, the exchange enables trustless swapping on layer-2 platforms like OP Mainnet, and public ledgers like the BNB Chain.

Uniswap TVL| Source: DeFiLlama

Preparing For Hooks And KYC?

Presently, Uniswap Labs leads the development of Uniswap. Nonetheless, Walsh said more developers are now building and contributing solutions. This, the Uniswap Foundation executive further observed, is especially considering the scheduled launch of Hooks in v4.

There is no specific timeline for when Uniswap will deploy the latest iteration, but the release of the Cancun upgrade on Ethereum will play a role. The protocol will be more customizable with Hooks since the feature acts more like a plugin. 

Even so, there have been concerns that Hooks, though being developed by community developers, will be the basis for Uniswap to censor liquidity providers (LP) or traders who don’t verify by adhering to know-your-customer rules (KYC). UNI prices remain under pressure at spot rates and may break lower, registering new 2023 lows.

Uniswap price on October 18| Source: UNIUSDT on Binance, TradingView

Uniswap’s New Fee Structure: Are You About To Pay More For These Tokens?

Recently, Uniswap, a prominent decentralized exchange, made headlines by introducing a 0.15% swap fee on specific tokens. While generating buzz and curiosity, this decision has raised several questions regarding its impact on traders.

Decentralized exchanges (DEX) facilitate peer-to-peer trading without intermediaries. The absence of centralized entities has advantages but also presents challenges, especially regarding fee structures.

Uniswap’s latest update to alter its fee structure is a significant shift with potential implications for its large user base.

Uniswap Fee Structure: Analyzing The Financial Impact

According to data shared by Colin Wu, a blockchain-focused reporter, the daily fees from this change on Uniswap V3 could range between $388,000 and $444,000.

Providing deeper insight into the platform’s operations, Wu mentions that approximately 35% to 40% of the entire transaction volume on Uniswap occurs on the front end.

These figures, while substantial, are just the tip of the iceberg. Specific tokens targeted for this new fee include popular tokens such as ETH, USDC, WETH, USDT, DAI, WBTC, agEUR, GUSD, LUSD, EUROC, and XSGD.

However, according to the Chinese reporter, this fee will only apply when these tokens are traded through Uniswap Labs interfaces on the mainnet and its supported Layer 2 networks.

Understanding The Broader Context

While the announcement sparked curiosity, it also led to some confusion concerning the fees. Uniswap’s help center, in response, clarified that these newly implemented fees stand apart from the Uniswap Protocol fee switch, which is determined through votes by Uniswap’s governance mechanism.

Despite the explanation by the DEX’s team, the genesis of this new fee introduction remains ambiguous to many within the community.

In response to Wu’s initial post, several individuals opposed the update, with a particular user questioning the rationale behind the 0.15% fee, the considerations leading to this specific percentage, and the selection of particular tokens for the fee imposition.

According to data from Coinmarketcap, Uniswap has reported a significant trading volume of $518.3 million in the past 24 hours, capturing 18.3% of the market share within the decentralized exchange sector.

Meanwhile, Uniswap native token UNI has witnessed a substantial decline. The asset has dipped by more than 10% over the past two weeks and showed a continuous drop of 5.5% in the last 24 hours. Currently, UNI is trading for $3.8.

Uniswap (UNI) price chart oN TradingView

Featured image from Bitcoin-Bude, Chart from TradingView

Uniswap V4 Expected To Be Huge, But Is This Requirement A Dealbreaker?

Due to its innovation, Uniswap Labs plans to introduce Hooks in the upcoming Uniswap v4, putting the world’s leading decentralized exchange in the spotlight. According to a critic on social media platform X, the DEX is on the know-your-customer (KYC)-verification route once Hooks on Uniswap v4 are released.

Uniswap Hooks and KYC| Source: "yourfriendSOMMI" on X

Uniswap v4 Hooks Is The Beginning Of Censorship?

Sharing screenshots, the user shared insights and said the exchange brings KYC verifications on the latest iteration. At the same time, the platform plans to use the “permission required” off-chain server on UniswapX for performance enhancements. 

UniswapX is an open-source solution allowing permissionless and open trading across Automated Market Makers (AMMs) and other liquidity sources. It is currently being tested on the Ethereum mainnet.

Though the community has embraced these developments, the critic said these requirements, especially the identity verification requirement on Hooks, will be available as an option before being gradually made mandatory down the line.

Uniswap v4 is being developed, and Hooks will be one of the key updates. Hooks are programmable extensions for customizing pool and trade behavior, tightly integrated with Uniswap’s core protocol. 

With Hooks, it becomes easier for developers to implement other features such as dynamic fees, on-chain limit orders, and overly improved customization. In this way, it will also be possible to integrate Uniswap v4 into other protocols.

Uniswap Evolution: Building “Real” DeFi?

The DEX has constantly evolved and released new features since the first version went live in late 2018. Uniswap v1 introduced AMM, opening up decentralized finance (DeFi). This allowed liquidity providers (LPs) to be crucial to market making. 

Uniswap price on October 16| Source: UNIUSDT on Binance, TradingView

In Uniswap v3, the exchange released concentrated liquidity (CL). This feature allows LPs to specify a price range within which they are willing to provide liquidity. In Uniswap v2, LPs provided liquidity across the entire price range of the token pair. In v3, liquidity depth increases while traders get better pricing.

Despite the criticism, Hooks has been supported in some quarters. For instance, the user acknowledged that the feature would amplify the value proposition of some protocols, making them real “DeFi” platforms. At the same time, while responding to the critic, another commentator said the feature will do more than what anybody else has done for “real DeFi.”

Uniswap Soaring User Engagement: How It’s Transforming UNI Price?

Uniswap (UNI) has emerged as a beacon of activity and growth amidst a month of turbulent trading for the broader cryptocurrency market. Throughout September, the crypto market exhibited a remarkable level of volatility while remaining largely range-bound, leaving market participants in a state of neutrality. However, Uniswap has defied the sideways trend, demonstrating notable progress in various metrics.

According to data from Token Terminal, Uniswap experienced a significant surge in daily active users on September 30th. This uptick in user engagement reflects growing interest in decentralized exchanges (DEXes) and the Uniswap Protocol specifically. 

Notably, Uniswap also celebrated a remarkable milestone during this period, completing over 300 million swaps. This achievement underscores the platform’s pivotal role in facilitating decentralized trading and liquidity provision within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Uniswap: Expanding Network Growth

Uniswap’s growth extended beyond its daily user metrics. The network saw an expansion in the number of new addresses, indicating a rising interest in the UNI token and its associated ecosystem. This surge in new addresses is a positive sign for Uniswap’s long-term sustainability and relevance within the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape.

While the broader crypto market struggled to find direction in September, there was some positive momentum to note. Over the weekend, the total market capitalization surged to a six-week high, reaching $1.15 trillion. This development signals renewed investor interest and optimism in the cryptocurrency space, potentially breaking the cycle of indecision that marked most of September.

UNI’s current price of $4.62, as reported by CoinGecko, reflects a 3.8% increase in the last 24 hours, with a seven-day surge of 9.2%. These positive price movements are indicative of the renewed investor interest in the Uniswap token.

UNI: Looking Ahead

Although the week’s economic calendar doesn’t directly impact the crypto market, the momentum gained over the weekend may persist if technical resistance levels are overcome. Notably, approximately $40 billion flowed back into crypto markets during the weekend, resulting in a 3% gain for the day. This influx of capital showcases the resilience of cryptocurrencies and their ability to rebound swiftly from periods of consolidation.

While the broader cryptocurrency market experienced a month of sideways trading and uncertainty in September, Uniswap (UNI) emerged as a standout performer. The platform’s increased daily users, milestone in swap volume, and expanding network growth demonstrate its continued relevance and importance in the evolving world of decentralized finance.

As the crypto market remains susceptible to both internal and external factors, the coming weeks will be closely watched to see if the positive momentum can be sustained.

(This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk).

Featured image from iStock

Uniswap Unveils Funding Plan For Ecosystem Revamp As UNI Price Hits 4-Month Low

In a move aimed at advancing their vision of creating a self-sovereign Internet with a permissionless alternative to traditional finance (TradFi), the Uniswap Foundation (UF) has submitted a proposal to secure the second tranche of funding

The desired funding, totaling $62.37 million, will be put to an on-chain vote scheduled for Wednesday, October 4th, with a 10% buffer included to mitigate price volatility.

Uniswap Foundation Seeks Community Approval

The separation of the funding request into two tranches was initially established to allow the UF to finalize its legal entity and obtain non-profit status from the Internal US Revenue Service (IRS), as the company is based in Brooklyn New York, ensuring clarity on tax implications before receiving the larger portion of funds. The UF obtained this status in the spring of this year, prompting the request for the second tranche.

The first tranche of funding, approved by Uniswap governance last year, aimed for $20 million but experienced a decrease in value due to a drop in the price of UNI, the native token of the Uniswap Protocol

Consequently, the Uniswap Foundation received $17.3 million worth of UNI, creating a remainder of $56.7 million to be requested in the second tranche. A 10% buffer of $5.67 million has been included to account for potential price fluctuations, bringing the total request to $62.37 million.

The Uniswap Foundation plans to receive the funds in UNI, with the amount determined using a 30-day UNI/USD TWAP (Time-Weighted Average Price). The pricing and its source will be explicitly noted in the on-chain proposal to ensure transparency in the process.

Regarding future operations, Uniswap currently holds 452,534 UNI tokens for employee vesting, valued at around $1.9 million. Factoring in a capital loss of $259,000 and the current UNI price, the UF has approximately $9.24 million remaining for operational expenses, expected to sustain them until Q4 2024. 

Lastly, according to the proposal discussion, the Uniswap Foundation anticipates revisiting governance in mid-2024 to extend its operational runway.

UNI Consolidates Amid Bearish Market Sentiment

Uniswap’s native token, UNI, has been consolidated between the price range of $4.198 and $4.311 over the past week. 

This price stagnation comes from the overall market trend and a bearish macro outlook, with the token experiencing a 0.5% decline in the fourteen-day timeframe. Furthermore, UNI has dropped 9.6% over the past 30 days, reaching a four-month low.

Uniswap

In the short term, UNI bulls must defend the current price floor to establish a strong support level. They aim to surpass the resistance walls at $4.418 and $4.487 to break the downtrend structure and potentially rally toward $6.259. It is worth noting that this price level is still below UNI’s annual high of $7.629.

According to Token Terminal data, Uniswap’s circulating market cap currently stands at $3.67 billion, experiencing a recent decrease of 6.66%. The fully diluted market cap, which considers the total number of UNI tokens that could enter circulation, stands at $4.27 billion, displaying an 8.15% decrease.

The total value locked (TVL) in Uniswap, representing the amount of cryptocurrency assets deposited and utilized within the platform, has recently declined by 5.31%. This decline reflects the broader Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector’s challenges.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com