Uniswap Unichain L2 launches with TVL at $56.6B on ETH

Uniswap Labs has launched Unichain, its Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) Layer-2 (L2) network, after a testnet phase that processed millions of transactions.

The launch aims to provide faster and cheaper transactions than Ethereum's mainnet.

According to Uniswap Labs, Unichain is designed for DeFi users and developers.

It allows developers to build and deploy decentralised apps, integrate stablecoins, and leverage swapping and liquidity pools via its v4 platform.

Users can bridge tokens onto Unichain through the Uniswap (CRYPTO:UNI) wallet, create their own tokens, and access new projects and apps.

"Around 20%" of the chain's revenue will go directly to Uniswap Labs.

The new chain could generate nearly $500 million annually for Uniswap Labs and UNI tokenholders by redirecting fees that would have gone to Ethereum validators.

Built on Optimism's OP Stack, Unichain aligns with Optimism's Superchain concept to scale Ethereum.

The network has been optimised for decentralised finance (DeFi) and aims to serve as "the home for liquidity across chains," according to Uniswap Labs.

Unichain offers 1-second block times and 95% cheaper gas fees than Ethereum.

Uniswap Labs is covering all interface fees for swaps on Unichain for a couple of months to assist in onboarding users and liquidity.

The Unichain network was created in Optimism's Superchain ecosystem based on OP Stack.

Uniswap Labs is responsible for the technical support and management of the Unichain Sequencer transaction sequencer, and the Uniswap Foundation is responsible for funding the development.

Unichain is launching as a Stage 1 rollup, featuring a fully functioning proof system that supports permissionless fault proofs.

The Unichain Validation Network (UVN) will let anyone run a UVN node and verify blocks, further decentralising the chain.

At the time of reporting, the Ethereum (ETH) price was $2,588.10.