Uniswap Secures $177M for V4 Growth, Revenue Activation

The Uniswap Foundation has successfully secured approximately $177 million in funding through two new governance proposals passed on Wednesday. This funding, valued at nearly 29 million UNI tokens, is aimed at supporting the growth of Uniswap V4 and Unichain, while also potentially paving the way for "revenue activation." Both proposals garnered over 80% support from voters, highlighting the community's backing for these initiatives.

The majority of the tokens, nearly 73%, are allocated to governance proposal #83, titled “Uniswap Unleashed.” This proposal outlines four strategic priorities for the protocol, with a significant focus on "activating revenue." This priority involves investigating the creation of a legal entity that could provide additional legal clarity for enacting the fee switch, which would allow protocol revenue to be returned to delegators and UNI token holders. The Foundation will explore the feasibility of this approach and, if deemed viable, will introduce or reintroduce proposals to enable the fee switch.

The fee switch has been a topic of debate within the Uniswap Governance forums for years, with various temperature checks and designs proposed but none yet passed. The Foundation's new funding and strategic priorities aim to address this long-standing issue, potentially providing a significant revenue stream for the protocol and its stakeholders.

Uniswap's protocol revenue first saw a significant jump in early 2021 and has since climbed to more than $4.4 billion cumulatively. The protocol has generated more than $1 billion in the last calendar year alone. This funding and strategic direction are expected to further bolster the protocol's growth and community engagement.