Uniswap Users Will Soon Be Able to Buy NFTs Directly on its Web App

Uniswap Labs announced on June 21 that it had acquired the NFT marketplace aggregator Genie, and plans to integrate NFTs into its products starting with the Uniswap web app:

1/ The Uniswap Universe is expanding 🦄

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 Labs 🦄 (@Uniswap) June 21, 2022

The integration of NFTs into the popular decentralised exchange means users will soon be able to buy and sell the assets across most major marketplaces using Uniswap.

Uniswap Labs also plans to incorporate NFTs into its other products, including its developer APIs and widgets, which it says will make Uniswap “a comprehensive platform for users and builders in Web3”.

Airdrop for Genie Users

As part of its acquisition of Genie, Uniswap Labs will be launching an airdrop of USD Coin (USDC) to historical Genie users. In a tweet, the company said the airdrop would be open to any Genie users who had used the platform more than once before the snapshot was taken on April 15, along with any user who holds a GENIE:GEM NFT.

4/ One more thing…

To welcome the Genie community to the Uniswap universe, we’ll be airdropping USDC later this summer to anyone who used Genie more than once before April 15 or holds a GENIE:GEM NFT 🧞‍♂️🦄

— Uniswap Labs 🦄 (@Uniswap) June 21, 2022

The airdrop is planned to launch in August and will be claimable by eligible users for 12 months.

Not Uniswap’s First Foray into NFTs

This is not the first time Uniswap Labs has dabbled in NFTs. In 2019, the company launched Unisocks, a platform where users could purchase a $SOCKS token that could then be redeemed for one real pair of limited edition socks. Uniswap Labs also helped to pioneer on-chain generative SVG images with the development of its Uniswap V3 NFT positions technology.

In its statement about the Genie acquisition, Uniswap Labs expressed its belief that NFTs are simply another way of generating value in the Web3 economy and are not separate from the ERC-20 tokens Uniswap has previously focused on:

We see NFTs as another format for value in the growing digital economy – not a separate ecosystem from ERC20s – and they’re already an important gateway to Web3.

Uniswap blog

Highs and Lows

Launching in late 2018, Uniswap was one of the first – and is currently one of the largest – decentralised exchanges on the Ethereum blockchain. In February 2021, the volume of Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) trading on the platform hit an all-time high following Tesla’s purchase of large amounts of Bitcoin.

More recently, in April this year a class-action lawsuit was launched against Uniswap alleging the decentralised exchange had been involved in the sale of unauthorised securities.