Uniswap governance considers activating protocol fees on all v3 pools, expanding to eight additional chains

Uniswap governance is considering a sweeping expansion of protocol fees that would switch on revenue collection across all remaining v3 pools on Ethereum mainnet and extend fees to eight additional chains.

The temp check, now live on Snapshot and set to conclude on Feb. 23, proposes activating protocol fees on v2 and v3 deployments across eight additional chains, including Arbitrum, Base, Celo, OP Mainnet, Soneium, X Layer, Worldchain, and Zora. It would also introduce a new tier-based fee adapter that automatically applies protocol fees to all v3 pools based on their liquidity provider fee tier.

If ultimately approved through governance, the change would effectively place protocol fees on every v3 pool rather than limiting them to a governance-managed list, marking a structural shift in how Uniswap captures value.

Post-UNIfication

The proposal is the first to use the streamlined governance process introduced under “UNIfication,” a major overhaul passed late last year. That framework allows fee parameter updates to bypass the traditional request-for-comment stage and move directly to a five-day Snapshot vote followed by an onchain decision, accelerating adjustments while retaining timelocked execution.

UNIfication also laid the groundwork for routing protocol revenue toward a burn mechanism that converts collected fees into UNI and permanently removes them from circulation.

Since initial fee activation on v2 and a subset of v3 pools in December, governance contributors have pointed to rising, market-adjusted total value locked on Ethereum mainnet and functioning burn infrastructure as signs that the rollout has been stable.

"This rollout has gone well, with market-adjusted TVL up on Ethereum mainnet since December," the proposal stated. “The burn system is working as expected, permissionlessly converting fees in many different tokens into UNI burns.”

Uniswap Labs founder Hayden Adams also confirmed the first wave of fee activation had been closely monitored and that the system was operating efficiently. The next phase, he wrote, would extend fees to the remaining v3 pools and additional chains, signaling more value capture ahead.

Under the new plan, fees collected on Layer 2 networks would flow into chain-specific “TokenJar” contracts and then be bridged back to the Ethereum mainnet for burning. On the mainnet itself, a dedicated “Firepit” contract would handle direct burns.

Because of governance contract limits, two separate onchain proposals would be submitted in parallel if the Snapshot vote succeeds, splitting the fee expansions across networks.

The move adds to Uniswap’s broader push to formalize protocol-level revenue at a time when the decentralized exchange is also reshaping other parts of its stack. Earlier this year, Uniswap began rolling out “Continuous Clearing Auctions” on its main frontend, altering how token launches are handled. The protocol has also deepened its institutional footprint, including enabling direct onchain trading of BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund BUIDL in collaboration with Securitize.

Uniswap is a multi-chain decentralized exchange built on Ethereum that lets users swap tokens directly from their wallets using automated liquidity pools instead of traditional order books or intermediaries. According to The Block's data, the protocol is among the top DeFi venues for volume and fees.