Uniswap founder rejects claims v4 fees cut LP earnings
Uniswap founder rejects claims that Uniswap’s newly activated v4 protocol fees cut liquidity providers’ earnings, saying critics spread “FUD and misunderstanding.” Hayden Adams argued the fees are additive—not deducted from LP fees—and disputed talk that the protocol takes 25% of LP profits.
Key Takeaways
- Hayden Adams called criticism of Uniswap v4 protocol fees “FUD and misunderstanding” in an X post on Tuesday.
- He said a 5-basis-point protocol fee on a 30-basis-point pool is about 14% of total swap fees, not a 25% cut to LP profits.
- Uniswap governance approved protocol fees for selected v4 pools across multiple blockchains.
- Adams argued protocol fees are additive rather than deducted from existing LP fees.
- Uniswap remains the largest decentralized exchange by total value locked, at about $3.06 billion per DefiLlama.
What did the Uniswap founder say about v4 fees?
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams pushed back against criticism of the protocol’s newly activated v4 fees. In an X post on Tuesday, he said recent criticism amounted to “FUD and misunderstanding.”
The comments followed Uniswap governance approval to activate protocol fees for selected v4 pools across multiple blockchains. Adams rejected the idea that liquidity providers would earn lower fees under the change.
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Do Uniswap v4 protocol fees reduce LP earnings?
Adams disputed claims that the protocol was taking 25% of LP profits. Using a 30-basis-point pool as an example, he said a 5-basis-point protocol fee represents about 14% of total swap fees—not a reduction in LP earnings.
He stressed that protocol fees are additive rather than deducted from existing LP fees. In that framing, the fee sits alongside swap fees instead of carving them away from providers.
That distinction is why he argued critics misunderstood how the newly approved v4 fee structure works. The pushback centers on how fees are shared and calculated, not on whether protocol fees exist.
Why does the Uniswap v4 fee debate matter?
Uniswap is the world’s largest decentralized exchange by total value locked, with about $3.06 billion secured on the protocol, according to DefiLlama. Fee design therefore affects a large share of on-chain liquidity.
Governance’s decision to turn on protocol fees for selected v4 pools raised questions about how value is split among LPs, traders, and the protocol. Adams framed the change as additive fees rather than cuts to LP earnings.
As reported by Cointelegraph, Adams said critics misunderstood Uniswap’s newly approved v4 protocol fees. The clarification comes as the largest DEX by TVL activates fees on selected v4 pools across multiple blockchains.
For liquidity providers and traders, the core dispute is accounting: whether a protocol fee share equals lower LP take-home, or sits as an added fee layer Adams described.