UNI Soars 38% as Fee Switch & Burn Proposal Ignites DeFi Bull Run

Uniswap's governance token UNI rockets to multi-month highs after a controversial proposal to activate protocol fees and implement token burns. The 38% surge comes as traders bet on improved tokenomics—though skeptics whisper this might just be another 'vampire attack' on liquidity providers.

Key drivers:

- Fee switch activation would redirect 0.05% of trading fees to UNI stakers

- Proposed burn mechanism could reduce circulating supply

- DeFi whales accumulating ahead of potential governance vote

Market watchers note the timing: this pumps UNI just as SEC scrutiny intensifies on centralized exchanges. 'How convenient,' quips one Wall Street analyst, 'that decentralized projects always discover their token utility when regulators come knocking.'

TLDR

• Uniswap (UNI) token rose 38% to $9.70 after Uniswap Foundation and Uniswap Labs introduced the UNIfication proposal
• The proposal includes activating protocol fees to burn UNI tokens and plans to burn 100 million UNI from treasury (16% of circulating supply)
• Uniswap Labs will absorb the Foundation’s ecosystem teams and eliminate fees on its interface, wallet and API products
• Protocol Fee Discount Auctions system will be built to increase returns for liquidity providers
• Fees from Unichain layer 2 network will be directed to the UNI burn mechanism

The Uniswap token jumped 38% on Monday after the Uniswap Foundation and Uniswap Labs jointly proposed major changes to the protocol’s economics and governance structure.

UNI climbed to $9.70 following the announcement. The token’s market cap surpassed $6 billion, making it the 34th largest cryptocurrency.

The proposal, called UNIfication, introduces several mechanisms designed to make holding UNI more appealing to investors. The centerpiece is activating a protocol-level fee mechanism that will burn UNI tokens.

Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation also plan to burn 100 million UNI from the treasury. This represents roughly 16% of UNI’s circulating supply.

Uniswap Foundation and Uniswap Labs have jointly proposed a governance upgrade to activate protocol fees, reduce the total UNI supply, and introduce a usage-based UNI burn mechanism. The proposal also outlines the creation of a Uniswap Growth Budget to fund protocol and ecosystem…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 10, 2025

The teams said the 100 million token burn is retroactive. It equals the amount that WOULD have been burned if protocol fees had been active since the protocol launched.

The proposal also includes building a Protocol Fee Discount Auctions system. This feature will allow traders to bid for fee discounts while capturing MEV and feeding the burn process.

Fees generated on Unichain, Uniswap’s ethereum layer 2 network, will be directed to the UNI burn mechanism. Unichain has generated $7.5 million in annualized fees since launching nine months ago.

Organizational Changes

The UNIfication proposal extends beyond tokenomics. Uniswap Labs will absorb the Uniswap Foundation’s ecosystem teams under the new structure.

$UNI next stop $12

top blasted but feeling underexposed so going to add some spot pic.twitter.com/zBX7ALj4kX

— Altcoin Sherpa (@AltcoinSherpa) November 11, 2025

Five people will sit on a board overseeing the changes. Co-founders Hayden Adams, Devin Walsh and Ken Ng will serve on the board along with Callil Capuozzo and Hart Lambur.

Uniswap Labs will stop monetizing its products. The company plans to set fees to zero on its interface, wallet and API.

The team said removing these fees will make the products more competitive. Future monetization will be tied directly to UNI holders’ interests.

Growth Budget and Protocol Development

The proposal includes creating a Growth Budget to support protocol development. This would involve distributing 20 million UNI tokens annually starting in 2026.

The budget would be distributed quarterly to fund protocol and ecosystem growth. The Uniswap Foundation said supporting decentralized finance builders remains a priority.

Uniswap v4 will evolve into an onchain aggregator under the proposal. It will collect fees from external liquidity sources through new hooks.

The teams said the proposal positions Uniswap to become the default decentralized exchange for tokenized value. DAO members will vote on the proposal.

Uniswap processes around $4 trillion in cumulative volume since launching in November 2018. It is the largest decentralized exchange by volume.