$20 Million Bribe Claims Are False: Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams

Uniswap Protocol CEO Hayden Adams challenged allegations that the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange takes bribes to allow deployments on its platform.

As an open-source protocol, Uniswap provides liquidity and trading for ERC20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.

Uniswap CEO Denies Taking Bribes

Adams dismissed the allegations, stating they were made to bait engagement. He clarified that neither Uniswap Labs nor the Uniswap Foundation charges protocols for deploying on its platform. He further explained that governance votes determine whether a protocol is deployed or not.

 “I rarely engage with forks trying to bait engagement, but for the record, this is completely false. Neither Uniswap Labs nor Uniswap Foundation have ever charged for a protocol deployment,” Adams explained.

Uniswap Labs is responsible for developing both the Uniswap protocol and the Uniswap interface. For the interface, the ecosystem focuses on the activity and effort required for chain-specific deployment.

Adams’ comments were in response to accusations made by a user named Alexander on X (formerly Twitter), who claimed that Uniswap bribed some protocols with amounts as high as $20 million.

“If you, or someone you love, has been asked to pony up $20 million for an ineffective Uniswap deployment just know that you are not alone and we’re here to help,” Alexandar wrote.

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Alexander’s remarks followed claims by Millicent Labs cofounder Kene Ezeji-Okoye, who alleged that Uniswap charges $10 million for protocol deployments and an additional $10 million for user incentives aimed at trading carbon credits.

In 2022, the Celo Foundation, which oversees the Celo blockchain — a carbon-negative, mobile-first platform for Web3 and environmental impact — approached Uniswap to promote green use cases. As part of this initiative, the Celo Foundation sought to restructure its treasury using green asset-backed tokens.

A proposal submitted to Uniswap on behalf of the Celo Foundation and other parties outlined that Celo would commit $10 million in CELO tokens for Uniswap-specific user incentives and grants, along with an additional $10 million in financial incentives.

According to a snapshot of the governance proposal vote, users approved it with 12 million ‘ayes’ against only 603 ‘nays’. BeInCrypto reached out for comment, but neither Hayden Adams nor Alexander immediately responded.

Meanwhile, the decentralized exchange recently settled its case against the US Commodities Futures Commission (CFTC). Amid allegations of illegal retail commodity transactions using digital assets, the exchange paid $175,000 in fines, a slap on the wrist following Uniswap’s cooperation with the authorities.

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Amidst the latest controversy, the Uniswap token (UNI) is down by 0.48% since the Thursday session opened. As of this writing, it is trading for $6.71.