As high gas fees push users toward alternative platforms, Uniswap’s recently introduced Layer 2 network, Unichain, aims to enhance user experience and maintain its competitive edge in the decentralized exchange space.

In fact, the network is already nearing a $12 billion milestone in total trading volume just three months after it hit mainnet.

Unichain’s Rapid Adoption

According to recent figures, Uniswap v4, launched in January, has seen a significant share of its activity shift to Unichain in the past month. In fact, Unichain processed 76% of Uniswap v4’s total volume on May 9th, leaving Ethereum with just 15.5% and even smaller shares for Arbitrum with 4.7% and Base with 2.7%. The latest figure points to the network’s increasing importance in Uniswap’s broader scaling and user adoption roadmap.

Uniswap officially launched Unichain in February this year. Built on the Optimism Superchain, it is designed to offer faster and cheaper DeFi activities. It also aims to deliver one-second block times and up to 95% lower gas fees than Ethereum and supports swapping, bridging, liquidity provision, token launches, lending, and cross-chain trading using the ERC-7683 standard.

The Layer 2 network saw a surge in activity beginning mid-April, coinciding with the launch of a $45 million liquidity incentive program. Data compiled by DeFiLlama showed that its TVL peaked at $800 million by the second week of May before falling to the current level of $627 million. Meanwhile, L2Beat reported that Unichain now ranks as the fourth-largest Layer 2 network by total value locked.

Furthermore, Unichain has recorded a dramatic surge in user activity over the past 30 days, according to new findings from Nansen. The network saw a 3,071% increase in active addresses as it reached 5.9 million – a more than 30-fold rise and the largest percentage gain among all EVM chains tracked. As a result, it even managed to outpace major players like Base and BNB Chain in this metric.

Uniswap Fights Back with Unichain

Uniswap has faced stiff competition from alternatives like Raydium on Solana, as high Ethereum gas costs diverted users during the recent meme coin boom. Now, with Ethereum Layer 2s gaining traction and the launch of Unichain, the leading DEX is working to attract users back by offering significantly lower transaction fees and improved trading speeds.

Besides its strategic focus on the new offering, Uniswap recently hit $3 trillion in aggregate all-time volume, thereby becoming the first decentralized exchange to hit the figure.

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The Necessary Condition

Solana’s SOL has been in a downtrend in the past week and is far from its all-time high registered in January this year. As of this writing, it trades at around $161, representing a 45% decline from the historic peak.

However, some analysts believe a renewed rally might be knocking on the door. The popular X user Ali Martinez claimed that a breakout above the resistance level of $176-$188 could ignite a fresh bull run.

Earlier this month, he disclosed that the number of wallets holding at least 0.1 SOL has soared above 11 million in the span of just two weeks. This development indicates growing participation in the ecosystem, while the minor threshold hints that most newcomers are likely retail investors.

Martinez isn’t the only renowned analyst to give his two cents on the topic. The X user Cas Abbe reminded about SOL’s crash in April, outlining that the price has climbed by over 50% since then, “while its fundamentals are getting better.” They think the ATH registered at the start of 2025 was not the cycle top for Solana, envisioning a new peak sometime this year. 

Mags chipped in, too, suggesting that SOL’s monthly chart “is forming a massive ascending triangle pattern.” That said, the analyst expects that a breakout beyond $267 could trigger “a massive leg up” to uncharted territory.

The Next Buying Opportunity?

Another X user who weighed in recently is XO. Earlier this month, they shared their trading history, which included a big sell-off approximately a week ago when the price was above $180. 

As it turned out, this was the trader’s entire “spot bag.” They now explore new buying opportunities that might occur in the next weeks or months. 

XO described the $140-$150 zone as an “immediate level of interest,” adding that $120 “isn’t out of the question.”

Subsequently, the trader assumed that Solana’s future price dynamics may heavily depend on what bitcoin does next. 

While the IMF has required limitations on public-sector crypto engagement as part of a $1.4 billion loan agreement, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office has continued purchasing one BTC per day.

This strategy appears to have paid off, as the country now holds a massive trove of unrealized gains worth over $357 million, driven by Bitcoin’s recent rally as the cryptocurrency inches closer to breaking its previously established all-time high.

El Salvador’s BTC Treasure Trove

President Nayib Bukele shared a screenshot on X that revealed that El Salvador’s BTC portfolio, which is now worth more than $644 million, was built on an initial investment of $287.1 million. As such, this has translated into over 124% profit margin.

Despite ongoing scrutiny from global financial institutions, El Salvador has remained firm in its BTC accumulation strategy. Bukele, who led the move to legalize Bitcoin in 2021 as a means of boosting financial inclusion, has consistently dismissed external pressure to roll back the program.

According to the data compiled by Bitcoin Treasuries, the Central American country’s holdings of 6,181 BTC position it as the sixth-largest sovereign BTC holder across the world, with the US topping the list, followed by China, the UK, Ukraine, and Bhutan, respectively.

Bitcoin Bet Marches On Despite IMF Constraints

Last December, El Salvador agreed to scale back its Bitcoin-focused policies as part of a financing arrangement with the International Monetary Fund. The package, which includes a $1.4 billion loan and is expected to total over $3.5 billion, came with conditions that aimed to reduce crypto activity in the country.

The IMF had previously warned of possible risks tied to El Salvador’s BTC holdings. Complying with the deal, lawmakers approved reforms in January of this year, such as making Bitcoin acceptance optional for businesses rather than mandatory.

However, Bukele made it clear that the cryptocurrency remains a central part of his vision. In a post on X, the country’s President insisted that the buying strategy will continue despite international agreements while asserting that El Salvador stood firm even when it was globally criticized and largely abandoned by the broader crypto community.