Since its launch in 2018, Uniswap has evolved to become a cornerstone of the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, becoming one of the most widely used decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
Amid its growing popularity, Uniswap has struggled with high fees and slow transaction speeds. In a bid to address this issue, the platform has introduced Unichain, an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network specifically designed to optimize DeFi applications.
Similar to other L2s, Unichain is built to improve transaction speeds, lower gas fees, and improve user experience, all while using Ethereum‘s security.
In this article, we will explore Unichain and its aim to solidify Uniswap’s dominance in the DeFi ecosystem by offering a better user experience.
Key Takeaways
- Uniswap has launched Unichain to solve high fees and slow transactions.
- Unichain’s key features include Flashblocks for fair transaction ordering and Trustless Revert Protection.
- The Validation Network ensures fast and secure transactions, preventing double-spending and block manipulation.
- Unichain integrates with Ethereum’s Superchain for cross-chain liquidity.
- With faster block times and no initial swap fees, Unichain aims to make DeFi trading faster and better.
What Is Unichain?
Unichain is a DeFi-focused Ethereum L2 chain designed to enable instant transactions, low fees, and cross-chain interoperability.
It was developed by Uniswap Labs using the OP Stack, an open-source rollup development stack. The OP Stack allows Unichain to join the Superchain, a network of interoperable L2 chains that share bridging, decentralized governance, upgrades, and a communication layer.
Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain expert, told Techopedia:
“Since its start, Uniswap has been a go-to for many in the DeFi community, providing a user-friendly platform for swapping tokens and adding liquidity.
“It’s only natural that Uniswap would evolve by creating its own blockchain, Unichain, to better serve and grow its business. This development not only solidifies Uniswap’s leadership but also tackles some of Ethereum’s challenges like high transaction costs and slower processing times.”
Unichain’s standout features are Verifiable Block Building and the Unichain Validation Network (PDF).
Verifiable Block Building
With Verifiable Block Building, Unichain aims to optimize user experience and market efficiencies by reducing block times, limiting maximal extractable value (MEV) losses, and protecting against failed transactions.
Built in collaboration with MEV solutions developer Flashbots, Unichain’s verifiable block-building feature looks to reduce the risk of “discretionary block ordering” by separating the role of block building from the sequencer.
Blocks on Unichain will be executed inside a trusted execution environment (TEE), which will allow external users to verify that blocks were built inside the TEE according to stated policies.
Unchain also aims to enable 200-millisecond to 250-millisecond block times by spitting each block into four “flashblocks.”
Unichain users will also benefit from the “trustless revert protection,” which reduces the risk of paying for a failed transaction. The TEE block builder simulates transactions while building blocks to detect and remove faulty transactions.
Unichain Validator Network
Sequencers are critical L2 network participants who are responsible for ordering transactions, batching them, creating new L2 blocks, and posting proofs to the Ethereum L1.
A notable drawback of Ethereum L2 chains is the centralization of sequencers. At the time of writing, popular L2 chains, including Arbitrum, OP Mainnet, and Base, each have only one sequencer.
Unichain, too, will operate as a single sequencer L2. To reduce risks related to a single sequencer, Unichain introduces a decentralized network of node operators that independently validate the latest blockchain state called the Unichain Validation Network.
To become a validator on Unichain, users must stake UNI tokens on the Ethereum mainnet. The main function of Unichain validators is to perform simple block attestations to increase confidence in the state of the chain.
Why Was Unichain Created & How Does It Improve Uniswap’s DeFi Offerings?
Launched in 2018, Uniswap is a pioneer of automated market-making (AMM) protocols and is currently the most popular DEX in DeFi history boasting a cumulative volume of over $1.64 trillion, as of February 2025.
As Uniswap saw meteoric growth amid increased DeFi adoption, it soon became evident that the Ethereum L1 blockchain was not equipped to give Uniswap the high performance it craved.
Therefore when Ethereum set course to scale its blockchain with the help of L2 solutions, Uniswap took the opportunity to create a performant application-specific L2 called Unichain.
With Unichain, the DEX pioneer looks to solve two pressing issues Uniswap faces on Ethereum: high transaction fees and fast transactions.
Unichain solves the first problem by being an L2 chain that processes transactions off-chain before bundling them to post to the Ethereum L1. The distribution of gas fees across several L2 transactions is said to lower fees by 95% compared to L1 gas fees.
For faster transactions, Unichain is customized with features such as TEE block-building to produce one-second block times, a significant upgrade from Ethereum’s 12-second block time. Unichain ultimately aims to hit 200-millisecond to 250-millisecond block times.
In a bid to solve the fragmentation problem caused by the excess of L2 chains in the market, Unichain will join the Superchain collective, which is a group of interoperable L2 chains created using the OP Stack.
As of February 2025, the Superchain collective had over 25 members including Base, OP Mainnet, Soneium, Zora, Ink, and HashKey Chain.
Features of Unichain
According to Unichain’s whitepaper, the project has introduced several features that help it enhance speed, security, and efficiency within Uniswap’s DeFi ecosystem. Here are its key components:
- Unichain implements Flashblocks, a mechanism that locks in transaction order before execution, to reduce the risks of frontrunning and harmful MEV extraction.
- “Trustless Revert Protection” — A unique mechanism that ensures users do not lose gas fees on failed transactions.
- Unichain features a Validation Network where independent validators stake UNI tokens to help confirm transactions quickly and securely. This system prevents double-spending and block manipulation.
- Unichain is built as part of Ethereum’s broader rollup ecosystem (Superchain), ensuring liquidity access across different chains.
- Unichain significantly reduces transaction costs compared to Ethereum’s mainnet, making DeFi trading and liquidity provision more accessible.
The Growing Trend of Appchains in 2025
Appchains are blockchains built for a single app or a small set of apps. They can be layer-2 or layer-3 solutions, often forked from existing blockchains to save time and improve compatibility.
Appchains are important because they speed up transactions, lower costs, and improve security by focusing resources on just one application. They also give developers more control over governance and upgrades.
So far in 2025, several new appchains have emerged, each tailored to optimize performance for specific dApps. Last month, Ethereum Layer 2 project Starknet introduced the SN Stack, a software suite enabling developers to launch customized appchains.
Similarly, HyperLiquid and dYdX have launched their appchains to improve decentralized trading by offering lower latency and deeper liquidity.
Future of Uniswap & Unichain
Uniswap’s Unichain could be the platform’s golden ticket to shape the future of DeFi with faster, cheaper, and more scalable trading.
Lian added:
“Unichain is set to shake things up in DeFi by offering much faster transaction speeds – starting with one-second block times, with the goal of cutting this down to 250 milliseconds.
“This is a game-changer for the quick trading and liquidity activities that Uniswap users are accustomed to. Plus, by making Unichain permissionless right from the start, Uniswap stays true to its roots of being open and community-driven.”
The Bottom Line
Unichain is a big deal for Uniswap, tackling high fees, slow transactions, and liquidity fragmentation while keeping the platform fast, cost-effective, and permissionless.
Unichain expects Uniswap with all the necessary tools to lead the next era of decentralized finance.
Source: https://www.techopedia.com/uniswap-launches-unichain-l2-all-you-need-to-know
Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.
Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.
An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.