CEO Hayden Adams insists Uniswap does not charge a fee for deploying the protocol, refuting accusations on social media that it asked for up to $20 million.
On September 12, Hayden Adams, CEO of Uniswap, denied allegations circulating on social network X about Uniswap Labs and Uniswap Foundation charging fees to deploy DeFi protocols.
The incident began with a post by Millicent Labs co-founder Kene Ezeji-Okoye, who claimed that Uniswap was charging $10 million for deployment and another $10 million for a carbon credit incentive program. Another X user, @wagmialexander, even accused Uniswap of asking for $20 million for deployment.
Adams responded on X, confirming that neither Uniswap Labs nor the Uniswap Foundation charge deployment fees. He explained that new protocol deployments happen through governance votes, and the cost of deployment on each blockchain depends on the workload and complexity of each chain.
Source: Hayden Adams
Uniswap is one of the most popular DeFi protocols with around $4.35 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to data from DefiLlama, allowing users to swap tokens across more than 10 different blockchains. The protocol was developed by Uniswap Labs, a New York-based software company.
Uniswap TVL. Source: DefiLlama
Uniswap has been embroiled in a number of legal disputes recently. In early September, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accused Uniswap Labs of illegally offering leveraged cryptocurrency trading services to US retail investors. Uniswap Labs settled the case by paying a $175,000 fine and committing to comply with the Commodity Exchange Act.
Earlier in April, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also accused Uniswap of operating an unregistered securities exchange. Uniswap asserted that it is a software company and not an exchange, brokerage, or clearinghouse under securities laws.
