ethereum's leading decentralized exchange, Uniswap, is bringing substantially more volume to Layer 2 blockchains compared to the activity seen two years ago.
The decentralized exchange (DEX) accounts for around 37% of the total trading volume at layer 2 while running on top of the second largest blockchain in cryptocurrencies, ethereum (eth).
21.co researcher Tom Wan noted that the platform's L2 volumes saw more than 650% growth in 24 months, rising from around $4 billion in 2022 to more than $30 billion this year. The analysts added that this trend could be further strengthened if more quality protocols are launched on layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum, Coinbase's Base, and Optimism.
“L2s have been gaining more economic activity, specifically Base and Arbitrum, which represent 82% of the total L2 volume on Uniswap. I expect L2 volume dominance on Uniswap to continue growing to 50% by the end of this year.”
x.com/tomwanhh/status/1784929074122539111″ target=”_blank” rel=””>Tom Wan21.co researcher
The data showed that the exchange has only contributed 2.9% of the total L1 altcoin volume, but Wan opined that this narrative may see a change in the future. Wan explained that high-performance EVM-supported L1s combined with a multi-chain expansion strategy could allow DEXs to capture more volume on networks like Sei and Monad.
<img decoding="async" width="1024" height="378" src="https://crypto.news/app/uploads/2024/04/GMVPpP5WUAAGq6v-1024×378.png” alt=”Uniswap DEX comprises 37% of ethereum L2 volume – 1″/>
Crackdown on Uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) was the first DEX on ethereum and remains the largest on-chain trading venue on the L1 crypto blockchain. The protocol has more than $2 trillion in accumulated trading volume across 17 chains. DefiLlama claims that users have also deposited more than $5.5 billion in total value locked.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="486" src="https://crypto.news/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-429-1024×486.png” alt=”Uniswap”/>
Founded in 2017 by Hayden Adams, the Brooklyn-based crypto services provider now faces potential enforcement action from the US SEC, which is currently embroiled in a broad crackdown on the crypto industry.
As crypto.news reported, the SEC served Adams' company with a Wells Notice and the DEX intends to defend itself against a “disappointing but not surprising” decision.