Uniswap's new Layer 2 blockchain, Unichain, could be a huge boon for Uniswap Labs and UNI investors, with the potential to generate nearly $500 million per year from fees that would otherwise have been paid to the Ethereum network.
According to Michael Nadeau, founder of DeFi Report, in an October 13 post on X, the Unichain launch will direct $368 million, the amount that has been paid to Ethereum validators over the past year, into the hands of Uniswap Labs and potentially Uniswap’s UNI token investors.
Uniswap Labs will also have the opportunity to capture all of the Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) on Unichain since they own all the validators on the network, rather than allowing Ethereum validators to mine MEV. “MEV is estimated to account for about 10% of all fees paid on Uniswap ($100 million over the past year). They will be able to share some of this with token holders,” Nadeau said.
Additionally, Uniswap liquidity providers can also benefit from the new blockchain by participating in the settlement and mining of MEV through staking.
Nadeau believes that Ethereum validators and ETH holders will suffer the most after Unichain launches, due to reduced ETH burning and lower fees returning to the blockchain.
Over the past year, Uniswap has generated over $1.3 billion in transaction and settlement fees across five major chains, including Ethereum, Optimism, BNB Chain, Base, and Polygon.
Uniswap – the largest decentralized exchange by trading volume – announced the launch of Unichain on October 10, promising faster, cheaper transactions and improved interoperability between different blockchain networks.
The launch has received mixed reactions from decentralized finance (DeFi) experts, with some arguing that another layer 2 blockchain is unnecessary.
Proponents argue that Unichain – described as a layer 2 network specifically for DeFi protocols – will deliver a smoother user experience for DeFi users, more centralized liquidity, and less fragmentation issues between different chains.
However, skeptics have found a September 2022 X post by Vitalik Buterin criticizing the idea of a layer 2 blockchain from Uniswap. “The main value of Uniswap is that you can make a trade in 30 seconds without thinking about it,” Buterin wrote in the post. “A Uniswap chain or even Rollups doesn’t make sense in that context. A copy of Uniswap on every Rollup is unreasonable.”
But Vitalik Buterin is the founder of Ethereum, he will oppose any idea that has the potential to harm the Ethereum network, and Unichain is one of them.
Source: https://tapchibitcoin.io/uni-owners-can-earn-468-million-usd-every-year-from-l2.html
