Crypto exchange Bitfinex is the latest major cryptocurrency exchange to list $UNI, the governance token that powers decentralized exchange Uniswap.
Bitifnex today opened trading of pairings for UNI/USD and UNI/USDT (that's Tether, the US dollar-pegged stablecoin). Deposits, trading and withdrawals are all open. Bitfinex follows Coinbase Pro, OKEx and Binance, major cryptocurrency exchanges that have also listed the token.
$UNI, which launched on Wednesday, traded for $3.21 on Thursday. Its value has since doubled; as of this writing, it is worth $6.56, according to data from metrics site CoinMarketCap.
$UNI is a governance token, meaning that holders can stake it to vote on proposals to upgrade the network. High-rollers can propose their own upgrades.
Those who provide liquidity to the network earn the token as an extra reward. Uniswap is a decentralized exchange that relies on a liquidity pool to facilitate trades. A liquidity pool is a bunch of money that Uniswap's customers can draw on to swap tokens.
Uniswap's $UNI token matches the offering of SushiSwap, a Uniswap clone that last month added the same governance token distribution mechanism for its token, $SUSHI.
SushiSwap, which today has $487 million locked up in its smart contracts, had been eating up Uniswap's business. After launching $UNI, Uniswap is the DeFi smart contract with the most value locked up in its smart contracts—$1.85 billion, according to data from metrics site DeFi Pulse.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.