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Hello readers,
Before we hop in, a quick update on the TDR Pro Portfolio. We are currently 10% cash (we were 80% cash last October when we alerted Pro members to our “risk-off” stance). The reporting below represents the current unrealized positions (cash redeployed in the bear market)
Total Unrealized P&L: 65.7%
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The market still values Uniswap as a “toy-like” DEX venue for swapping crypto assets. But what if the more important framing is that Uniswap is becoming critical infrastructure for the next wave of onchain finance, including the trading and settlement of tokenized real-world assets?
And with protocol fees, Unichain economics, and other revenue streams now feeding UNI buybacks, that infrastructure thesis has become increasingly aligned with UNI holders.
In this week's edition of The Watch List, we share an update on Uniswap fundamentals, RWA activity, protocol development, and valuation.
Let’s go.
Over the last 90 days, Uniswap generated $214m in trading fees, up 36% q/q but down 33% y/y.
94.7% of Uniswap’s trading fees were paid to LPs over the last 90 days.
Uniswap now directs 100% of the protocol revenue it captures toward UNI burns, but it does not capture 100% of all trading fees. That revenue comes from a cut of swap fees, Unichain net sequencer fees, aggregator-hook fees, and potentially MEV auction proceeds.
Over the last 90 days, the protocol returned $16m to UNI holders via buybacks, up 30% q/q.
Over the last 90 days, Uniswap generated $173b in trading volume, up 16% q/q but down 40% y/y.
2% of this volume came from RWA’s.
Over the last 90 days, 38.1% of Uniswap’s volumes came from Ethereum L1.
19% came from Base, 15.4% came from BNB, and 13.6% came from Robinhood Chain.
Over the last 90 days, 81% of Uniswap’s volume constitutes “organic” transactions. This was up 2% q/q but down 47% y/y.
Over the last 90 days, Uniswap has averaged 305.8k active addresses per day, up 24% q/q but down 62% y/y.
23% of Uniswap’s active addresses were new users, while 77% were returning users.
Over the last 90 days, Uniswap has generated $5.4b in RWA volumes, up 16% q/q and 255% y/y.
47% of these volumes were generated on Uniswap’s deployment on Ethereum L1. 37.8% were generated from Uniswap’s deployment on BNB.
Uniswap currently accounts for 90% of RWA trading volume on Ethereum and its L2S.
Unichain is a general-purpose Ethereum L2 launched by Uniswap in February of 2025.
It currently accounts for roughly 23% of all swaps generated by Uniswap deployments.
Over the last 90 days, Unichain has generated $29.6K in chain fees, up 12% q/q but down 98% y/y.
100% of these fees (net of the 15% fee to Optimism) are burned, accruing value to UNI holders.
Over the last 90 days, Unichain accounted for 23% of total Uniswap transactions. This was down 27% q/q and 44% y/y.
Total UNI Supply: 891m UNI
Circulating Supply: 623m UNI (non-circulating tokens are in the Uniswap DAO treasury)
100% of Uniswap’s team, investor, and community token allocations are currently unlocked in the market. With that said, 267m tokens are currently in the DAO Treasury (which can be used for grants, incentives/rewards, and other governance-approved distributions).
Given the burned UNI trend, we forecast supply to drop by 3.15% over the next year (assuming no treasury unlocks).
Over the last 90 days, Uniswap has seen 3.3k 3rd party hook deployments, up 210% q/q and 1522% y/y
We can think of Uniswap hooks as “plug-ins” for 3rd-party liquidity pools.
Instead of Uniswap Labs deciding every feature that every pool gets, a developer can attach a smart contract that runs at specific moments. For example, before or after a swap, when liquidity is added/removed, etc. That hook can change how the pool behaves.
A hook can create dynamic fees, onchain limit orders, TWAP/TWAMM execution for large orders, custom AMM curves, MEV-management systems, or entirely new liquidity strategies.
Hooks can even charge their own fees and decide where those fees go (LPs, the hook developer, users, or elsewhere).
Which means Uniswap’s business model is changing in real time.
Instead of simply deploying the infrastructure for pools and LPs to deposit into, Uniswap is shifting to a system in which it provides the core liquidity and settlement infrastructure that 3rd parties (TradFi?) can customize to build onchain financial products.
This generates protocol fees that can eventually be collected from v4 activity. As such, Uniswap increasingly resembles an open financial system, rather than simply a DEX.
Pools dot Trade is Uniswap’s launchpad deployment on Robinhood Chain.
The launchpad currently accounts for roughly 20% of volumes on Robinhood Chain (PONS is #1 at roughly 35%). Meanwhile, token launches account for roughly 4.5% of the launches on Robinhood Chain.
Uniswap is not currently monetizing its launchpad. Rather, each token launches directly on Uniswap v4, and it uses the launchpad to distribute trading volume. With that said, Uniswap could turn on a fee switch in the future and route a % of user fees to UNI burns.
Uniswap currently has a price-to-sales ratio of 2.9x (based on circulating market cap). For reference, Aerodrome has a p/s ratio of 5.1x. Raydium has a p/s ratio of 1.7x. And Pump Fun has a p/s ratio of 4.6x.
In the ranking of all Watch List assets, UNI is currently #6.
UNI is currently down 91% from its high vs ETH and appears to be bottoming.
Uniswap currently has a buyback yield (30-day annualized) of 3.2%. In the ranking of all Watch List assets, UNI is currently #7.
UNI is currently trading 77% off its all-time high, just outside of our “fair value” zone.
We think the market still views Uniswap as a “DEX.” But what is increasingly clear is that Uniswap is key infrastructure for the onboarding of RWA trading.
Not only is the protocol becoming core infrastructure for 3rd parties to build on, but it now has a value-accretive token-economic structure for UNI holders.
Meanwhile, it remains our view that DeFi apps (which account for just 2.7% of the crypto market cap today) with product-market fit and strong token economics will be re-rated during the next market expansion relative to the L1 infrastructure they operate on.
That’s why Uniswap is on TDR’s Watch List. If you’d like to access our portfolio + receive alerts when we make changes, you can sign up here.
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Disclaimer: Individuals have unique circumstances, goals, and risk tolerances, so you should consult a certified investment professional and/or do your own diligence before making investment decisions. The author is not an investment advisor and may hold positions in the assets covered. Certified professionals can provide individualized investment advice tailored to your unique situation. This research report is for general educational purposes only, is not individualized, and as such should not be construed as investment advice. The content contained in the report is derived from both publicly available information as well as proprietary data sources. All information presented and sources are believed to be reliable as of the date first published. Any opinions expressed in the report are based on the information cited herein as of the date of the publication. Although The DeFi Report and the author believe the information presented is substantially accurate in all material respects and does not omit to state material facts necessary to make the statements herein not misleading, all information and materials in the report are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without warranty or condition of any kind either expressed or implied.