TLDR Breakdown
- Uniswap exchange has lost its long position as the top DeFi protocol to Maker.
- The development followed the sharp drop of its assets, which relates to the soon-to-be concluded liquidity reward program.
Uniswap, the leading decentralized exchange (DEX), has lost its market dominance within 24 hours. The value of assets locked on the exchange began dropping yesterday, following the end of its token liquidity reward program today. Traders are apparently pouring their assets to the second-largest DEX, SushiSwap. This is evident amid the recent surge in SushiSwap’s assets value. The exchange posts about 69 percent of assets growth within 24 hours.
Top DeFi-ranking protocol falls
The liquidity reward program for Uniswap’s governance token (UNI) was slated for a conclusion on November 17. One could say that the program served as an incentive that kept the decentralized exchange running and topping the market for months. However, as the program neared its conclusion, traders began pulling off their assets from the exchange, which drastically shortened the liquidity on Uniswap.
According to the information provided by Defipulse, the analytics platform for the decentralized finance market, Uniswap assets dropped by over 44 percent from a total assets valuation of $2.89 on November 16. Currently, the remaining assets on the exchange are worth $1.59 billion. DeFi traders pulled out big time from Uniswap as more than $1 billion worth of digital currencies left the exchange in a matter of hours.
How soon until Uniswap returns?
The decentralized exchange currently ranks as the third-largest protocol in the decentralized finance market. Maker and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) tops the exchange with assets valuation of $2.34 billion and $2.07 billion, respectively. While Uniswap shaded huge market valuation, its rival SushiSwap gained more assets, which indicates that the traders might have migrated to the platform.
As of yesterday, SushiSwap had a market valuation of $332.92 million, which grew to $571.79 million presently. It remains unknown if and when the leading DEX will bounce back. However, it’s worth noting the token holders have initiated steps to save the exchange from free-fall.
A new governance proposal has been raised by Cooper Turley, which aims to reinstate rewards for the exchange’s liquidity providers in the form of UNI tokens.
