Decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap has increased trading fees for swaps in its interface by approximately 67%. The reason for this decision was a potential lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which targeted the crypto platform. Users will now have to pay a 0.25% fee to exchange tokens on Uniswap labs. Meanwhile, Previously the commission rate was 0.15%.
Uniswap Implements Fee Increase for Sustainable Operations
According to the Uniswap’s team, the site now needs to ensure sustainable financing for its activities. One way was to increase swap fees. Increased fees will apply to transactions conducted on the main network – Ethereum (ETH) – and supported second-layer (L2) solutions.
However, users can still exchange stablecoin pairs or wrap and deploy Wrapped Ethereum (WETH) at no extra cost. You can also bypass transaction fees using the alternative interface for the platform.
DEX introduced swap fees for some cryptocurrencies in its web app and wallet in October last year. At the same time, the crypto community initially voted against such an initiative.
Why the platform is increasing fees?
Raising swap fees is a strategic move ahead of potential SEC litigation, some analysts say. Last week, the US regulator sent Uniswap a Wells Notice, which usually signals an imminent lawsuit from the agency.
The amount of braindead takes in the replies is astonishing. The interface fee goes to Uniswap Labs to fund the operations of the team building out products around the protocol… Or in this case, fight a lawsuit with the SEC on behalf of the entire industry
If you do not want… https://t.co/86YnW3B2kb
— Dan Smith (@smyyguy) April 13, 2024
“The interface fee goes to Uniswap Labs to fund the team building products based on the protocol, or in this case, to fight the SEC lawsuit on behalf of the entire industry. If you don’t want to pay the fee, then just use an aggregator. Regular users are better off using an aggregator anyway,” said Blockwork Research analyst Dan Smith.
Confrontations between the SEC and cryptocurrency companies usually drag on and become a heavy financial burden for the latter. For example, the popular fintech startup Ripple spent more than $200 million on its case against the Commission. Meanwhile, despite the potential costs, the leading DEX platform announced its readiness to challenge the lawsuit.
