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The Uniswap 400 UNI Airdrop (September 2020)

A retroactive drop to 251,534 addresses that defined airdrop culture.

The announcement

On September 16, 2020, Uniswap launched the UNI governance token with a total supply of 1 billion. Exactly 15 percent, 150 million UNI, went to historical users and liquidity providers, with 400 UNI going to each of about 251,534 addresses that had interacted before September 1.

The value of 400 UNI

UNI opened near $3, making 400 UNI worth about $1,200. By the May 3, 2021, peak of roughly $44.9, the same airdrop was worth almost $18,000. Users who held to later lows near $3.5 in 2022 saw that value fall back below $1,500.

Allocation breakdown

Of the total supply, 60 percent went to the community, 21.27 percent to team members, 18.04 percent to investors and 0.69 percent to advisors, with a four-year vesting schedule. Liquidity mining across four pools ran until November 2020.

Why it was a template

The airdrop countered the SushiSwap vampire attack and set the user-retroactive precedent later used by 1inch, dYdX, ENS, Optimism and Arbitrum. It also made address farming common as users anticipated future rewards.

Governance afterwards

UNI holders control the treasury and fee switch. Debate over turning on protocol fees continued for years, showing that governance tokens do not automatically capture revenue.

By the numbers

For The Uniswap 400 UNI Airdrop, the reference figures are date of September 16, 2020, per eligible address of 400 UNI, eligible addresses of 251,534, community share of supply of 60%. The comparison table below lines up date, uni price, 400 uni value — Sep 2020: ~$3 / ~$1,200; May 2021 ATH: ~$44.9 / ~$17,960; Jun 2022: ~$3.5 / ~$1,400; Dec 2024: ~$17 / ~$6,800.

Modeling The Uniswap 400 UNI Airdrop with the Historical Airdrop ATH Vs Current Calculator

The Historical Airdrop ATH Vs Current Calculator takes three inputs — Tokens received, ATH price ($), Current price ($). Missed value = tokens × (ATH − current). With its default inputs (Tokens received = 1000; ATH price ($) = 15; Current price ($) = 3) it returns 12,000 $; swap in the figures from The Uniswap 400 UNI Airdrop above to reproduce the scenario yourself.

Modeling The Uniswap 400 UNI Airdrop with the Crypto Profit Loss Calculator

The Crypto Profit Loss Calculator takes three inputs — Buy price ($), Sell price ($), Amount invested ($). P/L = invested × (sell ÷ buy − 1). With its default inputs (Buy price ($) = 100; Sell price ($) = 150; Amount invested ($) = 1000) it returns 500 $; swap in the figures from The Uniswap 400 UNI Airdrop above to reproduce the scenario yourself.

Data Table

For educational and informational purposes only. Not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Figures are approximate and historical; crypto assets are volatile and you may lose capital. Do your own research.