Last update: Jun 28, 2022

Uniswap Review

Uniswap is the biggest DEX or decentralized exchange out there. It operates on the Ethereum blockchain and enables users anywhere in the world to trade crypto assets without any intermediary. Let’s find out more about Uniswap in this exchange review.

  • Uniswap


    1. Operating Since 2018
    2. Cryptocurrencies Supported 170+
    3. Fees Vary
    4. Deposit Methods Via crypto wallet only
    5. Fiat Currencies Not supported
    6. Verification Methods Not required
    7. Margin Trading No
    8. Futures Trading No

If you plan on entering the exciting world of cryptocurrency, you need a trustworthy exchange as reliable as it is secure. However, finding a dependable crypto exchange is often easier said than done. That’s why the Smart Billions team put together a detailed Uniswap review to help you decide if the platform is right for you.

Smart Billions is one of the most trusted online cryptocurrency workshops. We help cryptocurrency enthusiasts of all experience levels improve their trading strategies, choose the best crypto exchanges, and more. Continue reading to learn more about Uniswap and see if the platform is worth your time.

About Uniswap

Uniswap is one of the most popular decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges. The exchange utilizes the Ethereum blockchain, allowing users to buy, sell, and trade decentralized tokens anonymously. The platform doesn’t require account verification, personal information, or sensitive data such as phone number.

Since Uniswap operates as a decentralized finances (DeFi) platform, it doesn’t have an overseeing leader or party. The platform’s primary income source stems from constant trading that keeps liquidity pools ample and token leaders subsidized.

What Is a Decentralized Crypto Exchange?

Unlike centralized crypto exchanges, decentralized platforms don’t require you to go through an order book to conduct trades. Order books are lists of orders that provide crypto prices that you can buy, sell, or trade if it fits your budget.

The market liquidity calculates by the sell-and-buy orders at any specific period. The platform performs the deal when both parties find a matching order and agree to trade at the set price.

Centralized platforms handle most of the work for you. Once you find something you want to buy, sell, or trade on a centralized exchange, click it, and wait for the platform to carry out the process.

Although these exchanges make it easier for crypto traders and retail investors, they charge several transaction fees that stack up rather quickly. Uniswap charges include but aren’t limited to:

  • Deposit fees
  • Trading fees
  • Processing fees

Centralized exchanges also require more personal information, which many people feel comfortable providing.

Decentralized exchanges utilize trustless protocols that don’t require middlemen or an outside party to authorize transactions. Creators build decentralized platforms around the blockchain ecosystem they use. They allow users to purchase and trade assets using an Ethereum wallet.

Many traders prefer decentralized platforms since they are more user-convenient, causing the DEX market and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) to expand rapidly. Today, decentralized exchanges continue to grow and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

What Is Uniswap?

Uniswap is an open-source program that utilizes liquidity protocols through Ethereum’s blockchain network. The exchange considers its users the marketplace makers and doesn’t use conventional order books.

The market liquidity connects to the offers available at that time. If numerous traders want to purchase a specific asset, the liquidity of that cryptocurrency increases. If no one wants to buy a particular trading pair, the seller must reduce the price or wait until someone pays the set rate.

You must set the fee tier, price range, and the stake coin’s amount.

If the marketplace’s trade volume increases, so will Uniswap’s liquidity. High liquidity marketplaces gain the trust of traders, making the platform more reliable and stable. Unlike centralized crypto exchanges, Uniswap and other decentralized platforms put traders in charge of the liquidity.

However, relying too much on makers and takers or sellers and buyers often imbalances the platform. To combat the disproportion, Uniswap and other decentralized exchanges hire liquidity providers. Liquidity providers are traders that provide funds to enhance the platform’s liquidity bar.

The crypto exchange reimburses the liquidity provider using back-end trading.

Uniswap also utilizes ERC-20 token swaps without listing fees instead of relying on order listings. Reliance on tokens means the platform can’t interfere with the buying, selling, or trading process unless they have insufficient liquidity.

How Does Uniswap Work?

Uniswap’s founder Hayden Adams and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin developed the platform’s protocols in 2018. The protocols placed an Automated Market Maker (AMM) alternative called the Constant Product Market Maker that permits the exchange to avoid order books. They programmed smart contracts to manage and navigate Uniswap’s liquidity pools, allowing traders to deposit tokens, trade, and provide liquidity immediately.

However, Uniswap requires liquidity providers to pay a maintenance fee to utilize the service. The providers must deposit two tokens of equal value to improve the exchange’s liquidity. Most providers deposit stable coins like USDT, DAI, or USDC.

Below are Uniswap providers’ token requirements.

  • Two of the same tokens
  • A pair of ERC-20 tokens
  • ERC-20 and ETH tokens

Providers receive unique liquidity tokens that depict their contribution to the exchange’s liquidity pool.

Uniswap LP and Uniswap v3

Uniswap is always looking for new and exciting ways to push the crypto exchange forward. The Uniswap token is currently in its third generation, known as Uniswap v3. The token is incredibly innovative as it makes processing more efficient and ergonomic.

The token allows you to customize every aspect of its position when it enters trades with non-fungible assets. Uniswap v3 also labels every position as an NFT token.

Payment providers like MakerDAO and Aave are the platform’s preferred collateral deposits since they utilize Uniswap v2 tokens. Uniswap v2 tokens are not customizable, making them more ideal for collateral. They also play a vital role in the exchange’s liquidity.

Almost all Uniswap’s automated market makers (AAMs) are capital-inefficient due to the way you utilize them on the platform. Qualified users can use Uniswap v3 to improve liquidity if they believe it’s necessary. They also allow liquidity providers to customize and program the fee tiers for their provided liquidity.

This provider control allows you to target holes within the liquidity pool without requiring you to calculate the pool’s total liquidity, making it easier for you to profit.

Using Uniswap

Before you can utilize Uniswap, you must have an ERC-20 wallet. There are numerous ERC-20 wallets to choose from, including:

  • WalletConnect
  • MetaMask
  • Coinbase Wallet
  • Portis
  • Fortmatic

Storing Ethereum in a supported wallet allows you to participate in trading immediately and handle blockchain fees with ease.

Uniswap uses gas fees to administer transaction or blockchain fees to its user base. The platform looks at the network traffic and the crypto miner’s speed to calculate the gas fees.

Uniswap offers three trade processing speeds and levels. However, the faster the level, the higher the gas fees, so consider this before committing to a specific tier.

How Uniswap Makes a Profit

All Uniswap’s fees target liquidity providers since it’s a decentralized platform. The platform subsidizes 0.3% of each trade the providers perform. However, the 0.3% automatically transfers back to the liquidity pool instead of going into their crypto wallets.

It’s important to note that Uniswap’s liquidity providers can transfer their income into their wallets anytime by contacting the platform.

Pros and Cons of Uniswap

Like most cryptocurrency exchanges, Uniswap has its strengths and weaknesses. Below are some of the platform’s pros and cons.

Pros

  • Allows anonymous registration
  • Permits straightforward and easy use
  • Enables Ethereum trading and supports hundreds of ERC-20 tokens
  • Permits you to earn interest through staking crypto
  • Supports numerous crypto wallets including cold storage
  • Allows potentially high earnings through liquidity pools

Cons

  • Charges expensive gas fees
  • Accepts no fiat currency
  • Risks impermanent loss

Uniswap Customer Support

If you have any questions regarding withdrawals or any other blockchain technology-related concerns, you can try contacting Uniswap via their Twitter, Github, Discord or via their email address (contact@uniswap.org). They also have a dedicated help page for frequently asked questions (FAQs).

FAQs

Why Can’t I Purchase Tokens with Fiat Money?

Like other decentralized crypto exchange platforms, Uniswap doesn’t utilize cash deposit protocols or a user account system, prohibiting fiat deposits and purchases. You must link your crypto wallet to Uniswap and exchange Ethereum based tokens to purchase or deposit other crypto assets. In short, you can’t directly buy Bitcoin or other digital assets (e.g., Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE), Chainlink (LINK), EOS (EOS), Litecoin (LTC), Polygon (MATIC), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), Newton (NEW), Stellar (XLM), and Binance Coin (BNB)), using payment methods such as bank account / bank transfer or wire transfer, credit card, debit card, Visa, POLi, Osko, PayID, Interac e-Transfer, or PayPal.

Why Does Uniswap Transactions Take a Long Time?

Uniswap facilitates transactions via the Ethereum blockchain. Although most transactions take 15 seconds to several minutes, high network traffic often elongates smaller dealings. The platform first processes transactions with high network traffic since they have more expensive gas fees, extending smaller transaction verification times.

Does Uniswap Have a Mobile App?

Unfortunately, Uniswap doesn’t currently have a mobile app. However, users can still utilize the exchange on mobile devices (Android and iOS) by visiting the platform’s web application via a mobile browser. Uniswap optimized the website from cellular phones, allowing you to connect to your digital wallet, participate in trading, provide liquidity, and more.

Is Uniswap Available to U.S. Crypto Traders?

Yes. Since Uniswap is a decentralized and unregulated platform, traders worldwide can utilize the Uniswap exchange. However, it prohibits users in select countries. The geo-blocked countries include:

  • Cuba
  • Iran
  • Belarus
  • Iraq
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Liberia
  • North Korea
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • Zimbabwe

Is Uniswap a Crypto Wallet?

No. Uniswap requires users to link their Ethereum or hardware wallet to their account before buying, selling, or trading on the platform. The exchange supports multiple crypto wallets, including Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, and MetaMask.

 Is Uniswap Open Source?

Yes, Uniswap is open source and inherently permissionless. Anyone interested can look at the code. Some other crypto exchange platforms in the crypto space like SushiSwap are essentially just Uniswap’s code with another name

How to Buy Uniswap Token?

As we’ve previously mentioned, you won’t be able to buy any digital currency directly on the platform using bank transfer or cards. You will be needing a crypto wallet to buy Uniswap or other digital currencies. But don’t worry, if your aim is just to buy Uniswap, you can do this by using other crypto exchange platforms such as Coinspot, eToro, or Swyftx. If you’re located in Australia, these Australian exchanges are among the best as they are AUSTRAC-regulated.

Uniswap Cryptocurrency Exchange Review for Australia

Are you one of those Australian crypto beginners searching for a well-known cryptocurrency trading platform? Then you might want to try Uniswap!

Launched in November 2018, Uniswap was established by Hayden Adams, a young but talented designer and developer who was quite new to Solidity. Using the $100k grant from the Ethereum Foundation, Adams, including his small team, were able to build a compelling decentralized exchange which has garnered excellent traction since its launch.

In April 2019, the DEX closed a $1 million seed round lead by Paradigm. Using this, Uniswap went on to launch Uniswap V2 in May 2020. The exchange has since raised an $11 million Series A round and released its native governance token called UNI. This solidified Uniswap as the top decentralized exchange on the Ethereum blockchain.

In May 2021, Uniswap V3 was released. V3 went live on the much-anticipated Layer-2 scaling solution, Optimism, which is built to give lower-cost and faster transactions.

To sum it up, Uniswap exchange has succeeded in providing a much-needed decentralized exchange experience that cryptocurrency traders had long been searching for. Uniswap has become the biggest DEX as measured by many metrics, with developers continuing to improve and innovate the UX of the platform.

if you’ve already tried Uniswap and not satisfied for some reason, don’t worry. Here’s a list of the safest cryptocurrency trading platforms in Australia. Most of the exchanges listed in this guide offer relatively low trading fees, user-friendly charting, API features, low maker and taker fees, fast verification process, high trading volume, and more! So, check them out!

Uniswap Cryptocurrency Exchange Review for Canada

Founded by Hayden Adams in November 2018, Uniswap became one of the biggest decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges in the crypto space right now. The platform enables users to swap digital assets very easily, and you don’t need to register for an account. Users can also earn interest on their crypto holdings using Uniswap’s liquidity pools.

Uniswap started when the founder used the $100k grant from the Ethereum Foundation. Using this amount, Hayden and his small team of less than ten managed to build a compelling DEX, which later on garnered outstanding traction since its release.

In April 2019, Uniswap closed a one million dollar seed round lead by Paradigm. Then the DEX went on to launch Uniswap V2 in May 2020. Uniswap has since raised $11 million Series A round and launched its very own token called UNI. This native governance token made Uniswap as one of the best DEX in the crypto world. And in May 2021, Uniswap V3 was launched. This third version went live on the much-anticipated Layer-2 scaling solution, Optimism, which is designed to provide lower-cost and faster transactions.

All in all, Uniswap was able to succeed in providing an excellent DEX experience that many cryptocurrency traders had long been searching for. By several metrics, Uniswap has become the biggest decentralized exchange out there, with its developers continuing to innovate and improve the platform.

Now, just in case you realized you don’t want to use DEXs as they are not regulated, don’t worry because there are some excellent FINTRAC-regulated crypto exchanges in Canada such as BitBuy (perfect for you if you’re also into derivatives trading), Gemini, Wealthsimple, and more. These are the best crypto exchanges in Canada that are perfect for you if you’re looking for one that offers low fees in terms of trading and withdrawal fees.

Uniswap Cryptocurrency Exchange Review for United Kingdom (UK)

Are you looking for a well-established crypto platform to buy crypto and start trading? If yes, why not try Uniswap?

Uniswap was founded by Hayden Adams in 2018 with the help of his small team and a $100k grant from the Ethereum Foundation. With humble beginnings compared to other DEXs out there, Uniswap became one of the largest decentralized crypto exchange platforms in the crypto world.

Uniswap is a type of DEX known as an Automated Market Maker or simply AMM. This type of DEXs use smart contracts, which are programs coded on the blockchain, to set prices and perform trades. Because they are decentralized, these crypto exchanges don’t have a central governing body managing orders, which allow them to offer DeFi or decentralized financial services. One of the best features of Uniswap is that you can earn interest on their crypto holdings using Uniswap’s liquidity pools.

Overall, Uniswap was able to succeed in offering an outstanding decentralized exchange experience that many crypto traders and retail investors had long been looking for.

Now, if for some reason you don’t want to use any decentralized exchanges as they are not regulated, worry not because there are some prominent UK-exchanges out there that are regulated by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – a financial regulatory body in the UK. Here’s a full list of the Best Crypto Exchanges in UK for 2024. Aside from crypto market, if you’re also interested in forex, indices, or CFDs, then you should definitely check out the list!

Final Thoughts on Uniswap

Uniswap is one of the best decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges on the market today. Many Uniswap reviews praise the trading platform for its accessibility, user-friendly format, and selection of ERC-20 cryptocurrencies. The platform doesn’t require extensive background information, making it easy for you to enter the crypto trading market.

Uniswap v3 helped Ethereum become more prevalent in the cryptocurrency realm, making the platform alluring for Ether enthusiasts. It also severely reduced mining within the Ethereum 1.0 blockchain, making it more environmentally friendly.

Although the Uniswap exchange doesn’t directly support Bitcoin (BTC), fiat currencies such as US Dollars (USD), Australian Dollars (AUD), Canadian Dollars (CAD), Euro (EUR), and British Pound Sterling (GBP), or altcoins, its lack of KYC processes and insufficient liquidity issues make it the go-to choice for many crypto investors. At the same time, the lack of KYC processes might have some issues for crypto regulators. The platform’s outstanding infrastructure prevents many problems associated with other cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance. Its team also regularly updates Uniswap’s website (uniswap.org) to keep users informed on the latest Ethereum network developments and the platform’s native tokens (UNI token).

If you want a reliable decentralized cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy, sell, and trade anonymously, consider Uniswap.

Contact Smart Billions for More Information on Cryptocurrency and Exchange Platforms

If you want to learn how to get the most out of your cryptocurrency investments, contact Smart Billions. We are a group of blockchain enthusiasts and crypto entrepreneurs that can take your crypto trading to extraordinary new heights. Our team will teach you efficient trading strategies, what to look for in cryptocurrencies, and more.

Whether you want to compare the latest crypto exchanges or want to read more Uniswap reviews, Smart Billions is here for you. We’ve helped countless crypto investors improve their trading skills, and we can do the same for you at a fair and affordable price.

Don’t trust unreliable cryptocurrency workshops that don’t have your best interests in mind. Visit Smart Billion’s website and take your crypto trading to the next level today!

 

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author Marco Vela

A crypto obssessed digital marketer passionate about making a difference in the world. When he's not behind the computer he can be found hiking, camping and relaxing with his dog.