May’s memecoin mania propelled a record-breaking half a million users to trade on Uniswap (UNI), a leading decentralized cryptocurrency exchange and altcoin project. As a result, tens of thousands of investors shifted towards the decentralized crypto exchange.
523,606 Unique Wallet Addresses Transacted
In May, Uniswap recorded 523,606 unique wallet addresses conducting transactions, according to Dune Analytics data. This number outpaced the previous record set in January 2022 by about 50%. Uniswap significantly surpassed its nearest competitor, PancakeSwap (CAKE), becoming the top decentralized cryptocurrency exchange by 24-hour volume, with a whopping $1.15 billion.
However, despite the recent spike in activity, the performance of the protocol’s UNI token has largely trailed behind ETH since March.
The speculative hype driven by memecoins allowed some to amass significant wealth, while FOMO (fear of missing out) pushed investors into a race to find the next small-scale memecoin with explosive potential. This, unfortunately, led to substantial losses for many investors.
The high level of on-chain activity generated by memecoin trading also triggered a record level of ETH burning last month. According to Ultra Sound Money data, about 139,300 ETH worth approximately $259 million was burned. This figure accounts for 51% of the total ETH burned since the Ethereum 
$3,451 Blockchain transitioned from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus about 8.5 months ago.
Arbitrum’s Volume Increases
While about 88% of Uniswap’s total locked value is concentrated on Ethereum, the Arbitrum (ARB)-based v3 deployment currently accounts for 19% of daily trading.
In recent years, Uniswap has initiated a multi-chain expansion, predominantly deploying on leading Layer 2 networks. The protocol is now operational on alternative Layer 1s such as BNB Chain and Celo (CELO), as well as Arbitrum, Optimism (OP), Polygon (MATIC), and Zksync Era networks. Additionally, a governance proposal endorsing the launch of Uniswap v3 on Coinbase’s upcoming Layer 2 network, Base, was unanimously approved on May 31.
Coinbase is awaiting the completion of Optimism’s Bedrock update on June 6 to launch Base, which will be built using Optimism’s OP Stack. A swift launch of Base is anticipated afterwards.
