The DeFi UNI token increases by 92% in one week and exceeds $ 15

On Wednesday morning, the uni token (quotation UNI) native to the decentralized finance exchange (DeFi) Uniswap has passed the $ 15 per token threshold on Coinbase. As of press time, it has increased by more than 92% in one week and by 1.300% since the token's debut in September 2020, according to CoinGecko.

Uniswap breaks the DeFi summer records

Valued at $ 4,2 billion, Uniswap's UNI has the highest market cap of any DeFi token on the market, according to research firm Messari. The governance token has been involved in the 2020-21 bitcoin bull run along with other DeFi tokens.

At $ 25,1 billion, DeFi Pulse's Total Value Locked (TVL) metric - similar to assets under management (AUM) - has grown nearly $ 10 billion since January 1, up 136% year on year.

As a governance token, UNI holders can vote on decisions regarding Uniswap version 2, for example on how Uniswap's treasury will be spent. The exchange's weekly volume also surpassed the values ​​recorded during its impressive initial run during the “DeFi summer”.

According to info.uniswap, during the first three weeks of January, the volume averaged around $ 5,6 billion, while the liquidity available on the exchange has consistently stood above $ 3 billion.

These figures are even better than those obtained during Uniswap's summer run, which saw the exchange briefly exceed trading volumes on Coinbase, soon in IPO. Not bad for a unicorn.

At the time, Uniswap had donated what is called a symbolic "airdrop" to anyone who has ever used the exchange before. The drop in tokens was a response to rival exchange SushiSwap which forked the Uniswap code base and tried to lure users with a new token, SUSHI, in what is now called "vampire mining."

Each nominal user was given 400 UNI tokens equal to 60% of the billion UNI coined. Each airdrop is now worth around $ 6.000. SUSHI has also grown 177% in the past 30 days, according to Messari.

All-round growth

In addition to the token price, Uniswap's investors, consultants and team members are also growing rapidly after the initial token allocation, although a four-year vesting program remains in place.

According to a Uniswap post, 21% of the tokens, or 212.660.000 UNI (at press time: $ 3,2 billion), have been earmarked for current and future team members. An additional 18% or 180.440.000 UNI ($ 2,7 billion) was set aside for investors plus 0,69% or 6.900.000 UNI ($ 103,5 million) for consultants. Uniswap, whose core team is based in Brooklyn, NY, raised $ 11 million in a Series A backed by Andreeson Horowitz, Paradigm, Union Square Ventures and VersionOne.