Uniswap was founded by Hayden Adams (a former Siemens engineer), who developed the protocol in 2018. Adams was inspired by the work of Vitalik Buterin and others in the Ethereum ecosystem, and he has been a key figure in the growth and development of Uniswap since its launch.

Uniswap (UNI) is a well-known decentralised exchange protocol that allows users to swap tokens on the Ethereum network without the need for an intermediary. To achieve this, Uniswap uses an automated liquidity system (Automated Market Maker or AMM), where users can provide liquidity to token pairs and receive rewards in return. The tokenomic heart of Uniswap is the UNI token, which is used for the governance of the protocol, allowing holders to vote on important decisions regarding the development of Uniswap.

Uniswap primarily operates on the Ethereum network but also functions on networks such as Polygon, Arbitrum, Near, BSC, Heco, Gnosis, Sora, Avalanche, Solana, Terra Classic, and Hoo.