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Uniswap v1

Uniswap v1. Hayden Adams.

A pool holds ETH and one ERC-20. The product of the reserves is constant. Anyone can trade against the pool or add both assets.

A reading of the public document. Not a copy of it, and not a claim about a later network that reused the name.

Cite v1 when the design is ETH-paired constant product. Cite v2 or v3 when the deployment is actually that.
Evidence
Primary paper
Re-measured
No
Assumptions
3
Records linked
1

Code

Source, repository, and what is actually hosted

  • Uniswap v1https://hackmd.io/@HaydenAdams/HJ9jLsfTz
  • The source URL is not a GitHub repository. No code remote is invented.
  • Full text is not mirrored. Public availability is not a licence to copy the file onto this site.
  • Add to a reading list

01 Claim ledger

What the paper is allowed to say

Each row is a sentence already in the study. The status is the same on every row: a model claim, not a live measurement.

  1. Claim 01 · Paper model

    The defect

    Order books need market makers who show up. A chain with sporadic users needed a market that was always willing to quote.

  2. Claim 02 · Paper model

    The rule

    A pool holds ETH and one ERC-20. The product of the reserves is constant. Anyone can trade against the pool or add both assets.

  3. Claim 03 · Paper model

    How it is put together

    One pair per contract, and one side is ETH. The price is the ratio of reserves. Liquidity providers earn fees by being the counterparty.

  4. Claim 04 · Paper model

    Where the claim stops

    v1 is not v2. v2 removed the requirement that one side is ETH.

02 Three cuts

Observation, model, falsifier

A desk does not stop at the summary. Each claim is cut three ways, using only this study's own assumptions and checks. Nothing here is a new figure.

  1. 01 The defect

    Observation

    What the study says

    Order books need market makers who show up. A chain with sporadic users needed a market that was always willing to quote.

    Model

    What has to hold

    v1 is not v2. v2 removed the requirement that one side is ETH.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Is one reserve ETH?

  2. 02 The rule

    Observation

    What the study says

    A pool holds ETH and one ERC-20. The product of the reserves is constant. Anyone can trade against the pool or add both assets.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The spot price is manipulable inside a transaction.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Who is the counterparty to a trade?

  3. 03 How it is put together

    Observation

    What the study says

    One pair per contract, and one side is ETH. The price is the ratio of reserves. Liquidity providers earn fees by being the counterparty.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The spot price is manipulable inside a transaction.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Who is the counterparty to a trade?

  4. 04 Where the claim stops

    Observation

    What the study says

    v1 is not v2. v2 removed the requirement that one side is ETH.

    Model

    What has to hold

    v1 is not v2. v2 removed the requirement that one side is ETH.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Is one reserve ETH?

03 Sequence

One action, as an operating tape

  1. 01A trader sends ETH and receives the token, or the reverse, along the constant product.
  2. 02A liquidity provider deposits both sides and receives a share.
  3. 03A fee stays in the pool and raises the value of the share.
  4. 04Is one reserve ETH?

04 Load-bearing

The argument, and where a pitch drops it

  1. Why it is still on the desk

    The cut

    Cite v1 when the design is ETH-paired constant product. Cite v2 or v3 when the deployment is actually that.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A later client, parameter or reward formula is a different object from this paragraph.

  2. After the text

    The cut

    v2 generalised the pairs. v3 added concentrated liquidity. v1 is the first mechanism.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A later client, parameter or reward formula is a different object from this paragraph.

05 Register

What has to be true

  • Model · Not re-measured

    v1 is not v2. v2 removed the requirement that one side is ETH.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    The spot price is manipulable inside a transaction.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    Impermanent loss is not a bug in the formula. It is the formula.

06 Divergence

What happened after the paper

v2 generalised the pairs. v3 added concentrated liquidity. v1 is the first mechanism.

A later client, parameter set, or reward formula is a different object. Cite this paper for the mechanism. Cite a primary release for the network. This desk has not re-run the proof.

07 Pre-mortem

What to check before you use the idea

  4. 0 of 3 marked on this browser. A mark is a reading note, not a pass, a rating, or a recommendation.

08 Anatomy

The paper, in the order a builder needs

The problem it names

Order books need market makers who show up. A chain with sporadic users needed a market that was always willing to quote.

What the design proposes

  • One pair per contract, and one side is ETH.
  • The price is the ratio of reserves.
  • Liquidity providers earn fees by being the counterparty.

How the mechanism is specified

  • A trader sends ETH and receives the token, or the reverse, along the constant product.
  • A liquidity provider deposits both sides and receives a share.
  • A fee stays in the pool and raises the value of the share.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • v1 is not v2. v2 removed the requirement that one side is ETH.
  • The spot price is manipulable inside a transaction.
  • Impermanent loss is not a bug in the formula. It is the formula.

Why the desk still reads it

Cite v1 when the design is ETH-paired constant product. Cite v2 or v3 when the deployment is actually that.

09 Lexicon

Terms, opened into the record

Constant product
The reserves' product does not fall when a trade happens.
Liquidity share
A claim on both reserves, not a claim on a fixed price.

10 Repository

Every linked record on this page

Underlined words open a page that already exists: a concept, a protocol profile, a failure record, or another paper. If a word is not underlined, this desk does not have a record for it.

This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.

Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.