Uniswap's Unichain Surges 161% in DEX Volume, Reclaims Top Spot

Unichain, the newly launched Ethereum layer-2 network by Uniswap, has emerged as the fastest-growing blockchain in its debut month, according to blockchain data firm Nansen. Launched on February 11, Unichain recorded 236,452 active addresses within its first month. Despite this impressive figure, Unichain's user base remains relatively small compared to other established networks like Solana, which has 112 million total users, and Base and BNB Chain, which have roughly 19 million active users each.

Unichain has quickly established itself as a significant player in the decentralized exchange (DEX) volume, recording $217.7 billion. This volume ranks third in the industry, surpassing Ethereum’s base layer at $91.2 billion. Berachain, another blockchain that debuted in early February, reported a 30-day DEX volume of $3.78 billion, placing it eighth in the industry. Berachain had a much higher number of active addresses than Unichain, with 1.7 million active addresses.

Among established networks, BNB Chain saw the only DEX volume increase, surging 161% to $233.9 billion, making it the second-largest by volume. Uniswap, which had been the largest DEX for most of its existence, had conceded the top DEX spot to Solana-based Raydium in October and November 2024 due to high Ethereum gas fees driving users toward cheaper alternatives. With the rise of Ethereum layer-2 solutions and the launch of Unichain, users can now access Uniswap’s services with lower fees and faster transactions. On launch, Uniswap waived all interface fees for swaps, and the network boasted one-second block times, with plans to reduce them to 250 milliseconds.

As of March 10, Uniswap has reclaimed its position as the top DEX by total value locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama. Industry-wide TVL has dropped from $138 billion in mid-December 2024 to $91.8 billion as of March 10, per DefiLlama. Solana, which has been the go-to network for memecoin trading, has seen a decline in its key metrics over the past