One of many largest holders of UNI tokens is questioning Uniswap’s decentralization and backroom deal-making, particularly, its declare of “efficiency” as justification for a set of overhauls, and a potential undisclosed monetary curiosity between Uniswap Labs and one other blockchain, Optimism.
The Head of Governance at Stanford Crypto, a delegate entrusted with UNI governance tokens from hundreds of people, threaded a 22-post criticism about Uniswap’s sudden determination to launch its personal blockchain, kill its proposed payment change that may have benefitted holders of UNI, and bypass the ostensibly decentralized autonomous group (DAO) that supposedly governs Uniswap.
The hurried launch of Unichain “took many by surprise” and left “delegates in the dark,” wrote Billy Gao, who casts votes on behalf of his sizable delegation. He additionally famous that the choice “functionally mutated” the ERC-20 contract of UNI, which is “immutable” solely by probably the most strict and pointless definition — provided that UNI is now tied to a wholly new blockchain.
‘What control do token holders truly have?’ the delegate lamented.
1/ @Uniswap’s sudden launch of @unichain has raised critical questions on DAO governance and caught many people off guard.Is that this a daring leap ahead for DeFi, or a worrying step again for decentralization? Right here’s our breakdown of what unfolded, why it issues, and what’s subsequent.
— Billy Gao (@__billygao) October 19, 2024
Uniswap (UNI) and Optimism (OP)
Worse, Gao quickly raised suspicions of a backroom deal that financially motivated Uniswap’s extralegal bypass of the DAO. Though he didn’t make a proper allegation, he famous, “there must be reasons behind adopting the OP [Optimism] stack for Unichain.”
Optimism is a separate blockchain that publishes rolled-up information onto Ethereum. The so-called “layer 2” or “scaling solution” launched its personal token, OP, which is value over $7 billion.
Importantly, Optimism is only one of hundreds of opponents within the layer 2 ecosystem atop Ethereum. Certainly, it’s lower than one-fifth of the worth of all Ethereum layer 2s. The Stanford Crypto delegate requested why Uniswap Labs selected OP and why everybody ought to belief that the choice had no backroom deal-making.
Lingering questions on Uniswap’s decentralization
Questions abound concerning Uniswap Labs’ determination to repurpose the UNI token away from its authentic deal with trade charges. Why did Uniswap not select Arbitrum, for instance, the market chief that’s greater than twice as giant as Optimism?
Is Uniswap turning into extra TradFi than DeFi?
Learn extra: Is Uniswap turning into extra TradFi than DeFi?
Briefly, Uniswap Labs is the goal of one other critique that marks one more chapter in its saga of decentralization theatrics. Prior to now, the chief of the ostensibly decentralized token trade has suffered criticism for endowing energy with monied pursuits like Binance, a16z, and even the $700 million Ethereum Basis.
Now, delegates who thought that they had a say in Uniswap governance are left surprised at a hasty determination to launch a brand new blockchain, change the real-world perform of an ostensibly immutable good contract, and align with a second-ranked layer 2 with its personal token incentives.
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The publish Uniswap Labs launches Unichain with out UNI unanimity appeared first on Protos.
