Why Uniswap Price Is Up 17% Today?

The Uniswap price surged 17% on Thursday on the back of Uniswap Labs’ recent announcement of its new Ethereum layer-2 network. This development is set to increase the decentralized exchange’s native token UNI’s utility. Uniswap mentioned that the network will go live on the testnet today, with the mainnet expected to come sometime later this year.

Why The Uniswap Price Surged 17%

The DeFi token surged by 17% to reach a monthly high of $8.16 today following Uniswap’s announcement. The top DeFi protocol announced the launch of its Unichain, a new Ethereum L2 explicitly designed to cater to the needs of DeFi enthusiasts. According to the announcement, the network will feature fast order blocks, enable cross-chain interoperability, and operate a decentralized validator network.

Uniswap also mentioned that they have designed Unichain to be the home for liquidity across all chains. Meanwhile, the chain will help accelerate Ethereum’s scaling while prioritizing the needs of DeFi users and protocols.

Hayden Adams, the founder of Uniswap, noted that the new Layer 2 chain will have a few new features like “a fast, provable block builder” that help achieve faster transactions that reduce “MEV lags.” Adams also added,

“a decentralized network of validators that add an additional layer of finality and economic security on top of the sequencer”

This announcement provides bullish momentum for the UNI token, considering its role in the Uniswap ecosystem. This explains why the Uniswap price is up, as this has boosted investors’ confidence in the token’s potential. UNI will also enjoy more utility following Unichain’s launch since it will be the utility token on the Ethereum L2.

UNI Price Forecast: Uniswap Ready For A Major Breakout

Before Uniswap Labs’ announcement, crypto analyst Crypto Winkle stated in an X post that the Uniswap price was looking primed for a major breakout. He noted that UNI had bounced off its daily and weekly support and was showing impressive strength. Interestingly, the analyst asserted that the DeFi token had the potential to break into the top 5 crypto tokens by market cap in this cycle.

For context, the UNI token is currently the 22nd largest crypto with a market cap of $4.73 billion. Therefore, it is an ambitious target considering how high the Uniswap price will have to surge. Irrespective of whether this happens, UNI remains one of the best DeFi coins to invest in this year.

In his analysis, Crypto Winkle predicted that the crypto could rise to as high as $16 in this market cycle while outlining potential price levels at which traders should look to take profits. He stated that the first take profit target is $9.7, while the second and third targets are $13.4 and $16.5, respectively.

Meanwhile, from a fundamental angle, CryptoQuant’s CEO Ki Young Ju recently provided a bullish outlook for UNI. He noted that the altcoin was struggling to rise due to regulatory hurdles. However, he expects regulatory changes if Trump wins. He said these changes will include fee switches enabling token burns for revenue-generating projects like Uniswap.

Due to these regulatory hurdles, the DeFi platform has yet to activate its fee switch. Once that happens, the CryptoQuant CEO suggested that the Uniswap treasury could hold up to $314 million. This raises the possibility of buybacks and token burns, which would send the UNI price soaring. With Trump leading over Kamala Harris, the Uniswap price is undoubtedly in bullish territory.