On June 21st, Decentralized Exchange Uniswap announced that it had acquired NFT marketplace aggregator Genie. According to Uniswap, this step is part of its effort to enable universal ownership and trade on its platform.
Users are already familiar with Uniswap as a decentralized platform for exchanging many different types of tokens; this recent acquisition will add non-fungible tokens to the mix.
Additionally, users may see and trade NFTs on most of these platforms thanks to Genie, which provides them with access to a library of NFTs available across markets. According to the Uniswap team, the product will be used to include a Uniswap NFT vertical into their platform, which will debut this autumn.
1/ The Uniswap Universe is expanding 🦄
— Uniswap Labs 🦄 (@Uniswap) June 21, 2022
In pursuit of our mission to unlock universal ownership and exchange, we’re excited to share that we’ve acquired @geniexyz — the first NFT marketplace aggregator — expanding our products to include both ERC-20s and NFTs 🧞‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/vESlbE3kvy
Uniswap stated in the release, “We’re excited to bring what we’ve learned building DeFi products to NFTs.” To share the benefits of this acquisition and integration, Uniswap announced in August that it would airdrop USDC to former Genie subscribers.
In the spring of 2019, Uniswap introduced Unisocks, the first NFT liquidity pool. Additionally, they do not see NFTs as “a different ecosystem from ERC20s” but rather as “a vital doorway to web3.”
Key Highlights
- After Genie’s acquisition, Uniswap said it would combine NFT trading with its DeFi service.
- Users of Uniswap will be able to swap Non-Fungible Tokens thanks to the integration, and developers will have access to NFT data.
- Since its November debut, Genie has only handled $560 million, but Uniswap’s popularity may help increase activity.
Role of Genie
Genie collects information from important markets like OpenSea and LooksRare as an NFT market aggregator. This indicates that Genie will likely provide Uniswap customers access to a greater variety of buying options than would be possible with access to a single NFT non-fungible marketplace.
However, Genie’s low volume may experience a significant boost in activity if Uniswap’s higher exposure aids in its user growth.
