A significant UNI token holder has raised concerns regarding Uniswap's decentralization and its behind-the-scenes dealings. The holder, Billy Gao, who serves as the governance lead at the Stanford Blockchain Club and represents thousands of UNI governance token holders, published a detailed critique over 22 posts.
Gao questioned Uniswap's recent decision to launch its own blockchain, the cancellation of a proposed fee switch mechanism that would have benefitted UNI holders, and the sidestepping of the DAO which was supposed to govern Uniswap. In his posts, Gao expressed that the hurried launch of Unichain surprised many stakeholders and left representatives without the necessary information.
He highlighted that this decision has fundamentally altered the UNI ERC-20 contract, which is now linked to a new blockchain. Gao raised critical questions regarding the true level of control token holders possess, stating, ‘What control do token holders really have?’ This inquiry led him to suspect potential financial motives behind Uniswap’s actions, particularly regarding the decision to adopt the Optimism (OP) stack to support Unichain. Although Gao refrained from making formal accusations, he insinuated that there must be substantial reasons behind the choice of the OP stack and raised concerns about why stakeholders should trust there were no illicit deals in play.
On October 10, Uniswap developers officially announced the launch of Unichain, a new Layer 2 network constructed using Optimism technology. The implications of this launch are profound, as it not only affects the governance of UNI token holders but also raises important questions about the future path and ethical governance of the Uniswap ecosystem..