Uniswap CEO Denies Charging Fees for Protocol Deployment

Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams has refuted claims that Uniswap Labs or the Uniswap Foundation receive payments for protocol deployment.

I rarely engage with forks trying to bait engagement, but for the record this is completely false

Neither Uniswap Labs nor Uniswap foundation have ever charged for a protocol deployment

? https://t.co/t2VABxEnBK

— Hayden Adams ? (@haydenzadams) September 12, 2024

“Protocol deployments occur through governance votes. In the case of our interface, we prioritize based on activity and required effort (for example, a new ZK network will likely require much more work than a standard OP Stack). We put a lot of effort into reducing network costs,” he added. 

Adams responded to a post by X user alexander, who accused Uniswap of demanding $20 million for an “ineffective deployment.” 

If you, or someone you love, has been asked to pony up $20M for an ineffective Uniswap deployment just know that you are not alone and we’re here to help. ? https://t.co/bee3V2kavj

— alexander (@wagmiAlexander) September 7, 2024

In another tweet, Millicent Labs co-founder Kene Ezeji-Okoye claimed that the exchange charges $10 million for protocol deployment and an additional $10 million in user incentives related to carbon credit trading. 

Was $10m to uniswap and an extra $10m in user incentives focused on trading carbon credits

— Kene | Millicent (@PronouncedKenny) September 7, 2024

In September, CFTC fined Uniswap Labs $175,000 for offering digital asset derivatives using a DeFi protocol.

Earlier, the organization received a Wells notice from the SEC, which could lead to a lawsuit.

Uniswap Labs urged the Commission to drop the potential legal action.