Sep 4, 2024 - Business

Uniswap Labs beset by regulators for building a decentralized exchange

Brady Dale

A man speaking in an official setting, with a few people blurry in the background. — Rostin Behnam, chairman of US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), speaks during a House Agriculture Committee hearing in Washington, DC. Photo: Valerie Plesch/Getty Images

Uniswap Labs, the firm behind the world's most popular decentralized exchange, is under fire from a variety of regulators.

Why it matters: If regulators want to throw a giant monkey wrench into the crypto economy, making people afraid to use Uniswap would be a great way to do it.

Driving the news: Uniswap Labs today agreed to a $175,000 settlement with the CFTC, while some of its chief investors received subpoenas from the New York Department of Financial Services.

The CFTC settlement concerned trading for various tokens that represent leveraged trades on leading crypto assets, such as bitcoin (BTC) and ETH.
This all comes after the SEC previously served Uniswap Labs with a Wells Notice, which indicates that it's likely to take legal action.

Catch up quick: Uniswap has been, arguably, the most successful project in the world of decentralized finance, with nearly $3 trillion worth of cryptocurrency trades taking place over the exchange over the life of the project.

Notably, the exchange cannot be shut down. It exists as immutable smart contracts on various blockchains.

The intrigue: The CFTC settlement explicitly refers to ether (ETH) as a commodity.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler has declined to do the same, which could be a breadcrumb for a future lawsuit by his agency.

Go deeper: The SEC has questions for VCs about Uniswap

Add Axios on Google

Uniswap Labs beset by regulators for building a decentralized exchange

What to read next