Uniswap recorded its highest daily consumption of $UNI under the UNification mechanism. The event comes as Hayden Adams, the creator of Uniswap, renewed his optimistic view of DeFi and Ethereum.
Adams said on Adams said Ethereum sentiment was also very weak during this cycle, but builders continued to work. Their work then helped drive DeFi Summer 2020.
Burn hits record daily level
The $UNI Burn Bot reported that 134,000 $UNI tokens were burned over a 24-hour period. This set a new daily record for the UNification program. The record came a 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 wish to claim these fees must spend an equal value of $UNI through a contract called Firepit. After that, the burned $UNI is sent to the 0xdead address of Ethereum. The tokens are then permanently withdrawn from circulation.
Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation approved the plan for UNification in late 2025. After the proposal was announced, $UNI rose from $4.95 to $9.25 within a week, based on figures cited in the market reaction to the proposal.
Proposition 96 extends fee-related spending to all chains
In May, Uniswap governance approved Proposition 96. This expanded fee collection and $UNI burns on BNB Chain, Polygon and Celo. The decision brought the number of chains using the burning mechanism to 11, including Ethereum.
The expansion is significant as Uniswap now operates on over 40 chains. Data cited by Uniswap shows that the protocol holds a total value locked of $2.86 billion. Ethereum accounts for $1.96 billion of that total. Base holds $416 million and Arbitrum holds $198 million.
Since its launch, Uniswap has generated $5.59 billion in cumulative fees. However, the amount paid to $UNI holders through the burning mechanism totals $14.15 million. Annualized fees currently stand at nearly $882 million, according to figures provided.
Product updates target everyday users
Uniswap Labs also announced four product updates focused on user access across chains. These include in-app wallets, cross-chain trading, portfolio tracking, and multi-chain portfolio views. The company said all four features are active and have no interface fees on swaps.
Uniswap Labs also said its internal research found that 49.9% of new traders on Ethereum, Arbitrum and Base who traded in 2026 made their very first trade on Uniswap.
Despite the latest record burn and new product releases, $UNI is still trading at $2.47. The token remains more than 92% below its May 2021 all-time high of $44.97. The market capitalization of $UNI stands at $1.54 billion, with 622.71 million tokens in circulation. 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 build cycle.
