Amid the launch of Unichain, there are speculations that Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, is not a fan. Stake With Pride on X has dug out an old post by the Ethereum co-founder in which he criticized the idea behind Unichain.
Buterin claimed that Uniswap’s value proposition is easy trading, so a rollup from the DEX would make no sense. The conversation is already generating buzz on X, with some calling out Buterin for meddling.
Unichain Live Despite Big Buterin Rebuff
Vitalik Buterin’s commentary dates back to September 2022. While the context behind the comment remains unknown, many believed he tried to micro-manage the Uniswap vision. Besides talking down the prospects of a rollup or L2 product, he said Uniswap can thrive better if it deploys on every rollup.
In all fairness, Uniswap has expanded its base since its launch and it has a base on multiple protocols. Some chains hosting Uniswap include Ethereum, Base, and Binance Smart Chain. Two days ago, despite this subtle Buterin antagonism, Uniswap launched the testnet for Unichain, a new Ethereum Layer-2 solution.
The core function of the blockchain solution is cross-chain interoperability, in addition to acting as a decentralized validator network with faster speed. Unichain, yet to go on the mainnet, is built as an open-source blockchain, making it easy for other chains to adopt.
According to Uniswap, the creation of Unichain is its response to fixing the challenges of speed and high transaction costs that have plagued the DeFi sector. Unchain is designed to showcase fast, near-instant transaction settlement capability. For the testnet, Unichain recorded a one-second block time despite its peak target coming in at 200-250 millisecond sub-block times.
UNI Price Surge Amidst Unichain’s Testnet Launch
The L2 solution will allow Uniswap to compete for market share. Uniswap created Unichain’s technical architecture in partnership with Flashbots and Optimism. Significantly, this solution can boost market efficiency and lower value lost to Maximal Extractable Value (MEV).
Since Uniswap announced the launch of the L2 solution, its native token, UNI, has scored a series of wins. Its key metrics are on the green side of on-chain charts. At the time of this writing, UNI price traded at $8.19 after gaining 3.94% in the last 24 hours. In the last seven days, UNI has recorded over 20% increase in market value, reflecting an overall positive move.
Like many other cryptocurrencies, its trading volume has seen a huge downturn, recording a 26.68% drop in the last 24 hours. Such a dip suggests a lack of interest or confidence among investors in the short term. This lowered volume is likely a healthy retest after intense volatility and growth.
Ethereum L2s Plans to Boost Ethereum Scalability
Noteworthy, the launch of Ethereum L2 solutions is fast becoming a regular occurrence in the crypto sector. Most of these crypto projects are focused on dealing with Ethereum’s scalability challenge. L2Beat data suggests that the number of Layer-2 protocols trying to solve Ethereum’s scalability problem is currently at 105.
Of these L2 protocols, Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism’s OP Mainnet rank as the top three by Total Value Locked (TVL). Arbitrum has the highest at $13 billion, followed by Coinbase’s Base at $7.2 billion, and then OP Mainnet at $5.8 billion.
Buterin is also seeking more methods to improve on Ethereum’s functionalities. He recently shared his vision for the ecosystem centered on making Ethereum alignment legible.