mid-April, Uniswap UNI
+0.37%
laboratory Increased interface swap fee from 0.15% to 0.25%. Fees apply to most, if not all, swaps executed using the Uniswap web interface and wallet.
Using the Uniswap Labs interface is not the only way to use Uniswap. Traders can exchange using aggregators, alternative UIs, or by switching directly through smart contracts. When the fee was first introduced in October 2023, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams said the fee would allow his team to “continue researching, developing, building, launching, improving and scaling cryptocurrencies and DeFi.”
The fee change comes shortly after Uniswap disclosed that it had received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The fees seem to have influenced the popularity of the Uniswap interface. Uniswap frontends accounted for 30% of DEX activity in April compared to 35.8% in March.
But the frontend is still helping power Uniswap Labs’ coffers. After the fee increase, developers Over $145,000 per day on the front end Ethereum 
ETH
+0.75%
alone.
Fees seem to have slowed down since the initial change as more people became aware. Eight of the first 10 days after the 0.25% fee earned more than $300,000, but since April 21, only four days have surpassed that threshold. Some of this decline may be related to a broader slowdown in the market, as fees rose late last week when asset prices began to rebound.
In the end, if the Uniswap frontend is what you’re most comfortable with, a 0.1% fee increase may not be enough to deter traders. It has historically been one of the most popular frontends, and Uniswap itself is the most popular decentralized exchange.
As of early May, the Uniswap frontend is only on pace to account for 20% of trading volume, but this appears to be less a reflection on Uniswap and more due to the surge in usage on the 1inch website.
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