UNI Defies Market Sentiment as SEC Closes Uniswap Labs Investigation

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially closed its investigation into Uniswap Labs without taking any enforcement action.

The decision to drop the investigation solidifies a shift in the SEC’s approach under its current leadership, which has been reassessing enforcement actions across the crypto industry.

SEC Ends Uniswap Probe

During Gary Gensler’s tenure as SEC chair, the agency took a hardline stance against crypto and asserted that most tokens qualified as securities. The Biden-appointed former Goldman Sachs executive led multiple legal actions against crypto firms, accusing them of selling unregistered securities. Since his resignation on January 20, the SEC has rapidly abandoned many of these lawsuits.

Uniswap Labs welcomed the latest resolution, describing it as a “relief” not only for the company but also for the broader DeFi ecosystem, which has long faced regulatory uncertainty. It added that it is working with regulators and policymakers to establish clear and sensible frameworks for emerging financial technologies.

In a statement, the entity behind Uniswap DEX said,

“We have always welcomed dialogue with regulators and policymakers on developing clear, sensible laws and rules for new technology like DeFi. We look forward to productive conversations about our industry’s future in the weeks and months to come.”

Following the announcement, UNI posted daily gains of over 4%, rising to over $8, while the rest of the market still struggles after the Tuesday crash.

The SEC launched an investigation into Uniswap Labs last April, claiming through a Wells Notice that the company had been unlawfully acting as a broker, exchange, and clearing agency while also dealing in unregistered securities. This case was widely regarded as a key regulatory battle for DeFi.

In response, Uniswap Labs called the agency’s legal arguments “weak” and urged it to respect constitutional limits. The company argued that the SEC wrongly assumes all tokens are securities and is improperly redefining terms like “exchange” and “broker” to fit its case.

Unichain Launch

The latest development comes two weeks after Uniswap announced the launch of Unichain, its Ethereum Layer 2 solution, as it marked its entry into the competitive L2 ecosystem. Built on the Optimism Superchain, Unichain aims to improve DeFi by offering faster transactions, lower fees, and increased decentralization. It features one-second block times, 95% cheaper gas fees than Ethereum, and native USDC integration.

Users can swap, bridge, and provide liquidity directly through Uniswap’s app. Unichain prioritizes decentralization from the start. The focus will also be on a public Validation Network; however, it faces stiff competition from established Layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum and Base.