Uniswap sets record UNI burn; Adams stays bullish on DeFi

Uniswap has recorded its largest daily $UNI burn under the UNIfication mechanism. The event comes as Hayden Adams, the creator of Uniswap, renewed his bullish view on DeFi and Ethereum.

Adams said on X that he is “extremely bullish on DeFi and Ethereum,” comparing current market sentiment to the 2018 bear market. That period preceded Uniswap’s launch, he noted. Adams said Ethereum sentiment was also very low during that cycle, but builders kept working. Their work later helped drive the DeFi summer of 2020.

Burn Hits Record Daily Level

The $UNI Burn Bot reported that 134,000 $UNI tokens were burned in one 24-hour period. This set a new daily high for the UNIfication program. The record came one day after trackers showed stronger burn activity tied to fees collected through Uniswap’s on-chain contracts.

Under UNIfication, protocol fees are first collected and held in TokenJar contracts. Users who want to claim those fees must burn an equal value of $UNI through a contract called Firepit. After that, the burned $UNI is sent to Ethereum’s 0xdead address. The tokens are then removed from circulation permanently.

Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation approved the UNIfication plan in late 2025. After the proposal was announced, $UNI rose from $4.95 to $9.25 within one week, based on figures cited in the proposal’s market reaction.

Proposal 96 Expands Fee Burns Across Chains

In May, Uniswap governance approved Proposal 96. This expanded fee collection and $UNI burns to BNB Chain, Polygon, and Celo. The decision increased the number of chains using the burn mechanism to 11, including Ethereum.

The expansion matters because Uniswap now operates across more than 40 chains. Data cited by Uniswap shows the protocol holds $2.86 billion in total value locked. Ethereum accounts for $1.96 billion of that total. Base holds $416 million and Arbitrum holds $198 million.

Since launch, Uniswap has generated $5.59 billion in cumulative fees. However, the amount directed to $UNI holders through the burn mechanism stands at $14.15 million in total. Annualized fees currently sit near $882 million, according to the figures provided.

Product Updates Target Everyday Users

Uniswap Labs also announced four product updates that focus on user access across chains. These include in-app wallets, cross-chain swaps, portfolio tracking, and multichain portfolio views. The company said all four features are live and carry zero interface fees on swaps.

Uniswap Labs also said its internal research found that 49.9% of new traders on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Base who swapped in 2026 made their first-ever swap on Uniswap.

Despite the latest burn record and new product releases, $UNI still trades at $2.47. The token remains more than 92% below its May 2021 all-time high of $44.97. $UNI’s market capitalization stands at $1.54 billion, with 622.71 million tokens in circulating supply. The latest data places the burn mechanism at the center of Uniswap’s current token strategy, while Adams’ comments tie the protocol’s latest activity to a longer DeFi-building cycle.

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