Uniswap Buys NFT Aggregator Genie: Is OpenSea Under Threat?
Uniswap Labs announced the acquisition of NFT marketplace aggregator Genie on Tuesday, June 21st. The deal will allow millions of Uniswap users to buy non-fungible tokens listed across various marketplaces directly from the leading decentralized exchange protocol.
Neither Uniswap nor Genie have not yet specified the acquisition amount.
Uniswap is the biggest decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Ethereum blockchain with more than $7 billion of value locked, as of today’s data. According to an official announcement, it sees NFTs as another form of value in the growing digital economy, and is expanding its universe to build out its marketplace for all digital assets.
1/ The Uniswap Universe is expanding
In pursuit of our mission to unlock universal ownership and exchange, we’re excited to share that we’ve acquired @geniexyz — the first NFT marketplace aggregator — expanding our products to include both ERC-20s and NFTs
— Uniswap Labs
(@Uniswap) June 21, 2022
Reportedly, the new deal will open up the possibility for Uniswap users to track NFT listings across multiple NFT marketplace platforms, and buy or sell them within a few clicks. As stated in the release, Uniswap Labs plans to enable the new function for its web app in autumn.
“NFTs will be integrated into our products, starting with the Uniswap web app, where soon you’ll be able to buy and sell NFTs across all major marketplaces. We’ll also integrate NFTs into our developer APIs and widgets, making Uniswap a comprehensive platform for users and builders in Web 3.0”, Uniswap Labs stated.
According to an official statement, the deal with Genie was formulated by Uniswap Labs, and will therefore have no impact on the Uniswap Protocol, Uniswap Governance, or the UNI token.
