Uniswap would be a top 400 financial firm if not for regulatory uncertainty – Bitwise CIO

Uniswap, one of the world’s largest decentralized exchanges (DEXs), could rival traditional financial institutions in scale if regulatory conditions were different. 

That’s the view of Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management, who argued that Uniswap’s current $6 billion market capitalization understates its true value.

Uniswap at $6 billion feels too small. If it were a company, it would be the 400th largest financial services business in the world — roughly the same size as Storebrand, a savings and insurance business in Norway.

— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) August 4, 2025

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Hougan compared Uniswap’s valuation to that of Storebrand, a mid-sized Norwegian insurance firm, which ranks around 400th among global financial services companies.

“Uniswap at $6 billion feels too small,” Hougan wrote. “If it were a company, it would be the 400th largest financial services business in the world.”

But the analogy quickly drew criticism from industry watchers, who pointed out that Uniswap’s native governance token, $UNI, does not represent equity or ownership, nor does it offer token holders a share of protocol revenue.

Bitwise CIO compares Uniswap DEX to traditional finance valuation

Tom Lombardi, a partner at Cicada Partners, responded by drawing a sharp line between token value and corporate equity. “I’d be interested in debating Uniswap Lab’s corporate valuation,” he wrote, “but the $UNI governance token has little to no parallel to a corporate valuation.”

Hougan acknowledged the distinction, but added that the picture could change should more favorable regulations enter the space. “Yep, that’s a fair point,” he replied. “As mentioned, I think the premise under which it’s interesting is one where regulatory relief allows a reset of tokenomics.”

That theme, regulatory reform as a valuation unlock, was reemphasized in Hougan’s responses to another X user, who pointed out that the $UNI token currently provides no intrinsic value to holders.

“The Uniswap token is currently valueless,” the user wrote. “The foundation seemingly has yet to address revenue concerns even with Hyperliquid setting the standard. Uni at the moment provides no intrinsic value to community holders other than the joy of pink merchandise at crypto events funded by DAO tokens.”

Hougan stated, “I believe the reason for this has been regulatory uncertainty. As the SEC’s new ‘Project Crypto’ starts to peel back that uncertainty, I wonder if this will remain true.”

Wait for ‘Project Crypto’ to get Uniswap’s real value

Despite its non-corporate structure, Uniswap has scaled to a point where it competes in volume with some centralized exchanges. According to CoinMarketCap, Uniswap’s market cap is over $6.1 billion.

Still, as Lombardi and Colby note, Uniswap’s current structure doesn’t yet justify that optimism. The protocol’s foundation, while active in developer grants and ecosystem growth, has not yet proposed mechanisms that link token ownership to financial gain. Any such move could trigger SEC scrutiny.

The prospect of regulatory clarity remains a key wildcard. Last month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced “Project Crypto,” an initiative designed to modernize the agency’s approach to digital assets.

If regulatory relief allows decentralized protocols to distribute profits or revenue to token holders, similar to dividends, then governance tokens like $UNI could begin to resemble true equity.

Until then, Uniswap remains both one of the most successful DEXs by volume and a protocol whose flagship token provides no legal claim to cash flows.