Uniswap founder: AMM is about to enter the global financial system

Uniswap founder: Correlation asset pools may promote automated market makers into global finance

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams said that after 10 SPY tokenized asset pools processed US$33 million in transaction volume in 12 days, correlation tokenized asset pools may bring automated market makers into the global financial landscape.

Summary

Ten pools of tokenized stocks linked to SPY recorded US$33 million in trading volume among more than 11,000 traders. Since its launch in 2018, Uniswap has processed more than $4.6 trillion in transactions. Adams pointed out that correlated assets can reduce inventory risk and market market-making costs. U.S. regulators are considering establishing rules for continuous transactions and blockchain-based securities records.

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams said in a blog post on August 18 that tokenization could change which trading pairs attract liquidity and who provides funds behind it.

Related asset pairs perform well

Adams worked in decentralized finance for nine years and founded Uniswap in 2018. According to his article, the agreement has been operated through smart contracts since its launch and has processed more than US$4.6 trillion in transaction volume. During the same period, the proportion of decentralized exchanges in centralized exchange spot trading volume rose from less than 1% to more than 20%. Adams attributed the increase in part to automated market makers opening up markets for assets that cannot attract professional trading firms.

Related asset pairs reduce market-making risk

Unlike orderbook exchanges, automated market makers allow users to deposit two assets into a shared pool. Traders exchange with the pool, prices change according to preset rules, and liquidity providers charge part of the transaction fees. Adams said automated market makers initially found demand among small market caps and inactive tokens because issuers and early holders could create pools without hiring professional market makers. A stablecoin pool then emerged because assets such as USDC and USDT were often highly correlated in prices, limiting inventory changes faced by passive liquidity providers.

According to Adams, on-chain markets have since spontaneously formed clusters, without the need for a centralized institution to determine their structure. Ethereum-based assets are usually traded with ETH, Solana assets are traded with SOL, and stablecoins are pooled with other stablecoins. "No one has designed this structure. It occurs naturally,"Adams wrote. His argument is based on the relationship between the two assets in the liquidity pool. When their price movements are similar, liquidity providers are less risky to hold both assets. Adams believes that lower inventory risk can attract more capital, deepen liquidity, and reduce the performance advantages enjoyed by active trading companies. Traditional market makers often hedge price risk through options or other instruments, which increases costs. Investors who already want to hold both assets may not need the same hedging, so they can accept lower returns and continue to provide liquidity.

Tokenized SPY pool builds bridges for individual stocks

Tokenized securities allow stocks and funds to trade directly with each other on a shared blockchain without having to settle every transaction in U.S. dollars. Taking Nvidia as an example, Adams said that the NVDA-SPY pool could replace some of the trading activities usually conducted through NVDA-USD. SPY then connects the stock pool to the U.S. dollar through a separate SPY-USD market. Under this model, individual stocks and index funds form related asset pairs, while SPY-USD serves as a bridge. Passive liquidity providers can serve pools of underlying assets, while professional companies compete in a few bridge markets that carry concentrated trading volume. Automatic routing still allows investors to enter and exit positions in U.S. dollars. Transactions can be conducted in the background through multiple pools, eliminating the need for users to manually redeem each asset.

Adams pointed out that on Robinhood Chain, there are 10 tokenized stocks traded with tokenized SPY through the Uniswap pool. In the first 12 days, the pools processed $33 million in trading volume from more than 11,000 traders, some of which occurred during the close of U.S. stocks. He added that some transactions are made directly between two tokenized stocks without having to go through U.S. dollars. Adams sees this activity as an early example of a direct market for related assets that share the same settlement network. In addition, some more unusual ponds have emerged. According to his article, some Meme coins are paired with theme-related stocks, including Elon Musk-themed tokens paired with Tesla, and hot dog-themed tokens paired with Costco. Adams warned that the price correlation of such pools remained uncertain.

Uniswap v4 extends how liquidity pools operate

Uniswap's technological improvements may determine whether passive pools can compete in markets that require more complex trading rules. Uniswap v4 introduces hooks that allow developers to add custom features to the pool. Adams cited DualPool as an example, a hook designed to put idle liquidity into the lending market between transactions to increase returns for liquidity providers. License pools provide an alternative path for tokenized assets that require enforcement of qualification or transfer controls. Under this structure, programmatic inspections can restrict who trades in regulated assets, while pools continue to use automated market makers for enforcement. In July, Uniswap Governance expanded its fee system to v4 pools on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain, Polygon, OP Mainnet and Robinhood Chain. The change increased daily agreed revenue from approximately $114,000 to $325,000. The report shows that Uniswap processed US$27.6 billion in transaction volume in April 2026 and generated approximately US$845 million in annualized fees across its versions and networks. About one-sixth of that cost was captured by the agreement through the TokenJar contract, which was used for UNI purchase and destruction. Adams said that correlated asset pairs are only part of the automatic market maker model. Pool design, capital costs and the ability to handle regulated assets will also affect whether automated liquidity can compete with companies operating proprietary trading, hedging and settlement systems.

U.S. regulations will determine access to tokenized stocks

For U.S. investors, tokens that track stock prices do not always provide direct ownership of the underlying stock. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in January that tokenized securities can be issued by the company itself or created by unrelated third parties, with each model attached to a different legal structure. Tokens backed by issuers may update the company's official shareholder records when blockchain assets are transferred. Third-party tokens may provide indirect claims, custody interests, or economic exposure, but their holders are not registered shareholders. This distinction affects voting rights, dividends, corporate behavior and claims in the event of bankruptcy. In August, the SEC began preparing a limited path for 24/7 tokenization transactions, but the committee has not yet finalized eligibility criteria or an implementation date. Nasdaq received SEC approval in March 2026 to launch a pilot that includes eligible Russell 1000 stocks and major index-linked exchange-traded funds. According to its approved structure, tokenized forms and traditional forms enjoy the same rights and pricing in the national market system. Ownership infrastructure remains another part of U.S. regulation. In September, the SEC proposed a reform of transfer agency rules that covers digital records, cybersecurity, business continuity and investor asset protection. Transfer agents maintain official lists of securities owners and handle changes involving dividends, stock splits and other corporate actions. The SEC said companies are developing blockchain-based ownership systems, tokenized fund services and smart contract processes, but said its proposals are technology neutral. Traditional market operators are also building on-chain securities systems. The Intercontinental Exchange agreed in August to invest in tZERO and use its blockchain patents, while developing a platform related to the New York Stock Exchange. The ICE-tZERO cooperation covers digital transfer agency and broker infrastructure for issuing, trading and clearing public securities on-chain. ICE and tZERO did not disclose the investment amount, tZERO valuation or launch schedule. The proposed platform still requires regulatory approval to provide continuous transactions and blockchain settlements.