Why did Uniswap reach 915 million transactions in 2025 but the price of UNI remains unchanged?

Uniswap has set an impressive record with over 915 million transactions in 2025 and a trading volume exceeding 1 trillion dollars. This achievement affirms Uniswap's position as the undisputed leader in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

However, in this context of strong growth, the price of UNI has not shown positive change. This has led many investors to question: Why does a protocol capable of generating billions of dollars in annual revenue not provide value to holders?

Network power and record-breaking volume

Uniswap is experiencing a remarkable year, with the number of swap transactions on its platform reaching 915 million just in 2025. The third quarter of this year is expected to become the highest trading volume quarter ever, with around 270 billion dollars in transactions, with more than a week left until the quarter ends.

The total trading volume of the exchange has surpassed the milestone of 1 trillion dollars throughout the year, an impressive milestone for any decentralized (DEX).

Uniswap's trading volume | Source: Token TerminalThis growth reflects the maturation of the DeFi ecosystem and an increasingly clear regulatory environment, allowing protocols like Uniswap to operate safely and attract more users.

Huge revenue, but UNI price remains stagnant

Uniswap Labs has reported an impressive annual revenue of up to 50 million dollars, while the total transaction fees of the protocol reach 1.65 billion dollars per year. However, this revenue has not yet translated into value for the UNI token. The main reason is that Uniswap lacks buyback mechanisms or direct profit distribution to holders.

The fees of Uniswap. Source: Clemente on XWith a market capitalization of around 5.7 billion dollars, many investors are questioning the purpose and true value of UNI in the current context.

Experts and the community have pointed out that UNI is increasingly perceived as a "meaningless" token, not reflecting the huge revenue of the platform and hindered by non-transparent token distribution mechanisms along with conflicts of interest between the core development team and investors.

"I'm not criticizing Uniswap, but I'm criticizing $UNI. This is just a completely meaningless token in today's market and the changing regulatory environment. Everything you and your VCs represent no longer matters. Open up the revenue and execute buybacks, or don't bother having a token." A user commented on X.

Reflecting these views, another user on X also noted that the token holding mechanism does not encourage value creation.

Altcoins lack a connection to the trading performance of the exchange, while also facing difficulties with opaque token unlocking mechanisms. All these factors have kept the price of UNI low despite the underlying platform's growth.

This creates a clear gap between the value of the platform and the token, making it difficult for investors to perceive the benefits of holding UNI.

Proposal for strategies to increase the value of the UNI token

Experts have proposed three strategic directions for the UNI token to catch up with the true value of Uniswap:

1. Bring high-quality assets on-chain: Enhance liquidity and attract users.
2. Link the token value with business performance: Implement buyback mechanisms or distribute a portion of transaction fees to holders.
3. Reform the token supply mechanism: Ensure transparency and balance the interests between developers and the community.

At the time of writing, data from Coinphoton shows that UNI is trading at $8.12, down 82% from its all-time high in 2021.

Mr. Giáo