Nikolas Sargeant
Uniswap has marked a significant milestone in its evolution with the October 23 launch of native cross-chain bridging capabilities. The new feature, powered by Across Protocol, enables over six million users to transfer assets across nine different networks directly through the Uniswap Interface and Wallet.
The supported networks include Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, OP Mainnet, Zora, Blast, World Chain, and ZKsync. Users can now bridge both native assets like ETH and ARB, as well as stablecoins including USDC, addressing a long-standing pain point in the DeFi ecosystem.
The integration leverages Across Protocol's decentralized infrastructure of liquidity pools and relayers, offering near-instant settlement times and enhanced security compared to traditional bridging solutions. This marks a substantial improvement over the previous multi-step processes that often required users to navigate multiple platforms and endure lengthy transaction times.
Unichain: A New Chapter in Layer-2 Scaling
Earlier in October, Uniswap Labs unveiled its application-specific layer-2 network, Unichain, currently in testnet phase. As part of Optimism's Superchain ecosystem, Unichain promises to deliver superior performance with one-second block times, targeting sub-250-millisecond speeds in future iterations.
The announcement catalyzed significant market activity for Uniswap's UNI token:
- 15% price increase on announcement day
- Trading volume surge to $583.2 million (418% increase)
- Daily transactions jumped from 40 to 673 (1,582% growth)
- Active addresses increased by 587%
However, the excitement has also attracted malicious actors. Security experts identified a fraudulent website attempting to exploit the Unichain launch, prompting MetaMask to issue warnings to users about potential scams.
These developments represent Uniswap's commitment to addressing the complexities of cross-chain operations while scaling its infrastructure for future growth. By combining permissionless bridging with layer-2 innovation, Uniswap is positioning itself at the forefront of DeFi's multi-chain future.
