UNI Soars 20% as Uniswap’s Revenue Share Proposal Ignites DeFi Bullishness
Uniswap's governance token UNI rockets into double-digit gains as a controversial fee distribution plan gains traction. The proposal—which would redirect protocol fees to UNI stakers—has traders betting on a fundamental shift in value accrual for DeFi's blue-chip asset.
Market Pulse: UNI outperforms major crypto assets with a 20% surge, flipping key resistance levels. The rally comes amid growing consensus that token holders might finally get a cut of the platform's $200M+ annual revenue stream.
DeFi's Reckoning: While 'fee switch' proposals have failed before, this version strategically ties rewards to active governance participation—a nod to regulators' demands for clearer utility. Traders appear convinced, with open interest in UNI derivatives spiking 150%.
Wall Street Meets Crypto: The move exposes DeFi's uncomfortable truth—even 'decentralized' protocols eventually bow to investor demands for cashflows. Just don't call them dividends—that's a securities lawsuit waiting to happen.
UNI got a boost from Uniswap’s activity, which reached peak volumes in October, with $275M in monthly fees. | Source: DeFi Llama
As a result, Uniswap produced record fees of $275M in October, surpassing even the 2021 bull market. Increased trading activity and improved features brought a complete recovery to Uniswap after the 2022-2023 bear market.
Uniswap also remains key for new listings and older tokens, with a 6.1% share of total DEX trading.
Fee switch gains attention on Polymarket
The fee switch on Uniswap is a contentious issue that has been proposed multiple times. The feature aims to move some of the fees from Uniswap into the hands of UNI token holders.
The issue has been proposed for voting multiple times, though some of the largest stakeholders like the a16z fund have voted it down.
Currently, liquidity providers absorb all the benefits from Uniswap activity, and there is no strict deadline for the fee switch. Recently, other protocols introduced their own FORM of fee switches to share the rising revenues.
Attention for the Uniswap fee switch also came from a newly active Polymarket pair. In early November, a market was launched to gauge the probability of an eventual fee switch activation.
The pair suggested there is just a 33% probability for a launch in December, but up to 73% in the summer of 2026.
Despite the long wait time, the Polymarket pair saw some whale activity, reflecting the interest of high-profile crypto influencers. After months of discussions on social media, the issue gained even more attention through a Polymarket pair, though for now with relatively small volumes of $56,000.
Is the UNI rally sustainable?
UNI still trades closer to the lower range for the past three months. The token has seen a long-term slide, and like other project tokens, it did not completely reflect the revenue growth.
UNI open interest has fallen to $229M, from an earlier 2025 peak above $391M. The token is overlooked by whales for now, with only nine Hyperliquid traders holding sizable positions.
In November, UNI increased its mindshare by 44%, based on Messari data. The Uniswap project is a staple in the crypto space, having survived multiple cycles. This time around, Uniswap is successful on all metrics, but has a relatively low impact when it comes to hype. At the same time, UNI is seen as an undervalued token, which can be taken up by derivative traders, to return to previous highs.
Get $50 free to trade crypto when you sign up to Bybit now
