Uniswap Governance Approves UNIfication Proposal in Near-Unanimous Vote

Uniswap's decentralized governance just flexed its muscle. In a near-unanimous vote, the community greenlit the "UNIfication" proposal—a major structural overhaul for the protocol's flagship token.

What the Vote Actually Means

This isn't a minor tweak. The proposal fundamentally reshapes UNI's utility and governance mechanics, aiming to tighten the protocol's economic flywheel. Think enhanced fee mechanisms and staking rewards designed to lock value within the ecosystem.

The Bullish Signal for DeFi

A near-unanimous decision from a famously fractious DAO is rare. It signals strong consensus on a strategic direction, something traditional corporate boards—with their endless committees and quarterly myopia—often struggle to achieve. This vote cuts through the noise and commits capital to a single, forward-looking vision.

The move positions Uniswap to capture more value from its own liquidity, a play that could make its tokenomics look less like a governance afterthought and more like a genuine revenue-sharing asset. It’s a direct challenge to the old guard of finance, proving that decentralized coordination can be faster and more decisive than a room full of suits debating share buybacks.

Will it work? The market will decide. But for now, Uniswap's governance has done something radical: it made a clear, bold decision. In crypto, that's often half the battle.

Uniswap Proposal Activates Long-Awaited Protocol Fee Switch

The proposal, introduced in November by Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation, activates the long-anticipated protocol fee switch.

Under the new structure, a portion of trading fees, previously distributed entirely to liquidity providers, will now be directed to the protocol itself.

Those fees will be used to burn UNI tokens on an ongoing basis, reducing total supply over time. In addition, net sequencer fees from Unichain will be routed into the same burn mechanism.

Together, the changes create a direct LINK between usage and supply reduction. As trading activity increases across Uniswap, more UNI will be removed from circulation, effectively tying the token’s economics to the protocol’s growth.

Beyond fee mechanics, UNIfication also streamlines Uniswap’s operational structure. The proposal transitions Uniswap Foundation teams and responsibilities into Uniswap Labs, removes fees from Labs’ interface, wallet, and API services, and establishes a recurring growth budget funded by UNI.

Voting has concluded on Unification

125,342,017 YES
742 NO

Unified, true to the name

After a ~2day vote timelock, 100m UNI will be burned, fee switches will be flipped, labs will turn off frontend fees and focus on the protocol, and more

Merry Christmas everyonehttps://t.co/wpsEC8udlW pic.twitter.com/P0rJmLN9Cc

That budget is designed to support long-term development and ecosystem expansion rather than short-term incentives.

Following approval, the proposal enters a two-day timelock, after which Uniswap will execute a one-time burn of 100 million UNI.

The figure represents an estimate of how much UNI might have been burned had the fee switch been active since the token’s launch.

The governance package also introduces a Protocol Fee Discount Auctions system designed to improve returns for liquidity providers while aligning Uniswap Labs, the Uniswap Foundation, and on-chain governance under a single legal structure using Wyoming’s DUNA framework.

Several influential figures in decentralized finance backed the UNIfication proposal, including Variant founder Jesse Waldren, Synthetix and Infinex founder Kain Warwick, and former Uniswap Labs engineer Ian Lapham, all of whom hold substantial voting power.

Uniswap Cites Shift in Regulatory Climate as It Moves Toward Value Capture

The MOVE comes after years of regulatory pressure on DeFi under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

In the proposal, Uniswap argued that the regulatory landscape has shifted and that decentralized finance has reached a stage of broader acceptance, making it possible to implement protocol-level value capture.

“I believe Uniswap protocol can be the primary place tokens are traded,” Adams said, adding that the proposal “sets the stage for the next decade of its growth.”

UNI was trading at $5.92 as of late Thursday, up 18.9% over the past week.

Uniswap has generated more than $1.05 billion in fees so far this year, highlighting the scale of activity now feeding into its new economic model.