(Kitco News) - Uniswap Labs, the developer behind the top decentralized exchange Uniswap, has announced the launch of its own nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace aggregator in an effort to break the separation between cryptocurrency exchanges and NFT markets.
The new offering – which has been under development since Uniswap acquired the NFT trading aggregator Genie back in June – will aggregate NFTs that are listed for sale on the top marketplaces including OpenSea, X2Y2, LooksRare, Sudoswap, Larva Labs, X2Y2, Foundation and NFT20.
As the top DEX in the crypto space, Uniswap currently has $3.52 billion in assets locked on its platform according to data from DeFiLlama. The exchange is now looking to simplify the NFT trading experience and streamline it with regular token trading.
“Historically, everyone views tokens and NFTs as two very separate experiences. But at the end of the day, they're both digital assets and the goal is to unlock universal ownership in exchange for creators and for communities,” said Scott Gray, head of NFT product at Uniswap Labs. “NFTs and tokens are just two different ways to unlock value in our digital worlds.”
Through Uniswap's new aggregator, users can view the listing and “global floor” prices across the seven supported marketplaces, list NFTs for sale across marketplaces, and bulk-buy NFTs in a single transaction.
To help get the product off to a good start, Uniswap will be offering limited gas rebates of up to 0.01 ETH to help facilitate the initial transaction for the first 22,000 users of the aggregator. The rebate is being offered until Dec. 14 and can be claimed through the Uniswap app after Jan. 16.
Early Genie adopters will also be eligible to receive a portion of a $5 million USD Coin (USDC) airdrop. Genie users who made more than one transaction before April 15 are eligible to receive $300 while those who hold Genie's Genesis NFTs or Genie Gem NFTs will be eligible for $1,000 each.
The motivation to launch the new aggregator can be found in the revenue data from the top NFT Marketplace OpenSea. According to a blog post by Shiva Rajaraman, OpenSea’s VP of product, creators selling on the platform collectively earned $1.1 billion in 2022, with 80% of that amount coming from collections outside of the top 10. And that doesn’t include sponsorship revenue, engagement incentives or grants.
As NFTs grow in popularity and new marketplaces launch, it becomes increasingly challenging for the average crypto user to keep up with the latest developments and project launches. By aggregating the top marketplaces in one location – with plans to add additional marketplaces in the future – Uniswap is looking to become a one-stop shop for acquiring NFTs.
The competition Uniswap faces in this endeavor is sure to be stiff as both OpenSea and Rarible have made moves in recent months to develop their ability to aggregate NFTs from other marketplaces.
