Uniswap Review: What It Is, How It Works, and What You Should Know

When you trade crypto without a middleman, you’re likely using a Uniswap, a decentralized exchange built on Ethereum that lets users swap tokens directly from their wallets. Also known as Uniswap V3, it’s one of the most used platforms in DeFi, a system of financial apps running on blockchain without banks or brokers. Unlike centralized exchanges like Binance or Coinbase, Uniswap doesn’t hold your money—you control your keys, and trades happen automatically through smart contracts.

Uniswap works using something called an automated market maker, a system that sets prices based on the ratio of tokens in a liquidity pool instead of buy and sell orders. If you want to swap ETH for DAI, you’re not buying from someone else—you’re trading against a pool of funds locked in by other users. Those users earn fees for providing liquidity, which is why many people stake their tokens in Uniswap pools. But here’s the catch: if the price of your token swings wildly, you could lose money through something called impermanent loss. It’s not a scam—it’s math. And it’s why Uniswap isn’t for everyone.

Uniswap doesn’t list every token. It’s open to anyone, which means you’ll find real projects like LINK and AAVE—but also hundreds of meme coins with no team, no code updates, and zero trading volume. That’s why you need to check token contracts before swapping. A lot of people lose money by accident because they didn’t realize they were trading a fake token. Uniswap doesn’t vet coins. You do. And that’s the trade-off for no KYC, no restrictions, and no gatekeepers.

It runs on Ethereum, the blockchain that powers most major DeFi apps and smart contracts, so gas fees can spike during busy times. If you’re swapping small amounts, you might pay more in fees than the value of your trade. That’s why many users turn to layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum or Optimism to cut costs. But even then, you’re still responsible for every transaction. No customer support. No chargebacks. No refunds.

Uniswap isn’t just a tool—it’s a shift in how finance works. It’s open, permissionless, and anyone with a wallet can use it. But that freedom comes with responsibility. You’re not just trading tokens—you’re managing risk, understanding liquidity, and watching for scams that look like real projects. The posts below show you exactly what that looks like in practice: from how to spot fake tokens to why some DeFi pools vanish overnight, and how to protect your funds when trading on platforms like this.