Uniswap Executes 100 Million UNI Token Treasury Burn

TLDR

• 100 million UNI tokens burned, valued at $596 million.
• Governance proposal received 99.9% approval from community.
• Post-burn, UNI price increased by 5% to 7%.

Uniswap recently conducted a significant treasury burn, extinguishing 100 million UNI tokens. This decision followed the governance-approved “UNIfication” proposal and was executed on December 28, 2025, at approximately 4:30 AM UTC. This token burn was valued between $591 million and $596 million.

The event aimed to reduce the circulating supply of UNI and was designed to align with the proposal’s intention to shift fee structures. With this burn, the circulating supply of UNI is now approximately 730 million tokens out of the initial 1 billion total supply.

Governance and Community Approval

The “UNIfication” proposal garnered overwhelming support from the governance community, securing 99.9% approval. Only 742 votes were cast against the proposal, while over 125 million UNI voted in favor, surpassing the 40 million UNI quorum requirement. The backing by prominent figures like Jesse Waldren, Kain Warwick, and Ian Lapham was instrumental in achieving this consensus.

Uniswap Labs, acting as the primary developer entity, transitioned from the Uniswap Foundation’s structure under this proposal. The protocol fees on V2/V3 pools and Unichain have been activated, with percentages ranging from 0.05% to 0.25%, directed towards ongoing UNI burns.

Financial Impact on Treasury

The burn reduced Uniswap’s treasury holdings from approximately $2.1 billion to $1.6 billion in UNI value. This reduction is expected to fund future burns via protocol fees. Notably, no external capital or new allocations were involved in this process.

Post-burn, UNI saw a price increase of 5% to 7%, with prices rising to between $6.3 and $6.38. Trading volumes rose 52% to $297 million, and the market capitalization reached a monthly high of $4.6 billion.

On-Chain Confirmation and Transition

The treasury burn was confirmed on-chain, as evidenced by Lookonchain monitoring four hours after proposal approval. This reduction led to the circulating supply dropping to 730 million UNI. However, no changes in TVL, liquidity shifts, or staking flows were reported at the time.

As part of the changes, protocol fees will now flow towards ongoing burns. The structural transition at Uniswap Labs means interface fees have been set to zero.

Potential DeFi Precedents

This burn sets a new precedent for decentralized finance (DeFi) governance, showcasing a deflationary model via governance-driven burns and fee redirection. Although no past events of a similar scale are noted, potential parallels with other protocols like Aave may emerge.

The affected assets include UNI directly, with Ethereum acting as the host chain for fee-generating pools. No notable impact on other cryptocurrencies such as BTC or other altcoins has been observed.

Market Activity and Reactions

While the on-chain execution was confirmed, no official statements from Uniswap’s key figures or executives were found in primary sources. Uniswap Labs’ confirmation of the execution appeared only in secondary reports.

Industry reactions from crypto KOLs or regulatory updates were not available at the time. Additionally, community sentiment on platforms like GitHub, Reddit, or Telegram did not yield significant discussions beyond on-chain confirmations about the treasury burn.