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lp

Uniswap V3

Rejected
Max sleeve
Reviewed
2026-08-15 · v1
Next review
2026-11-15
Chains
Base · hybrid, Ethereum · sovereign, Arbitrum One · hybrid, Polygon PoS · hybrid, BNB Smart Chain · freezable, OP Mainnet · hybrid, Avalanche · crypto-backed, Monad · crypto-backed

Rejected venues wait the longest for re-review; a rejection has to earn another look before the scheduled date.

Uniswap v3 is a concentrated-liquidity AMM: LPs choose a price range and earn fees only while the market trades inside it. It held about $1.36B across ten chains at the 2026-08-14 survey. As price crosses the chosen band, arbitrage converts the position toward one asset; outside the band it is single-sided and earns no fees. Narrower ranges amplify capital efficiency and inventory exposure together. The core contracts’ maturity is relevant but not dispositive: this is an AMM-class exclusion, not a finding that Uniswap v3 failed an individual security review.

The research file

The mechanism

Each v3 LP position is an NFT specifying a pool, fee tier and lower and upper ticks. Liquidity participates only while the spot price is inside that interval. Swaps change the position’s token composition; at one boundary it becomes entirely token0 and at the other entirely token1. Fees accrue only while active and must exceed adverse selection, gas and rebalancing costs before the LP outperforms simply holding the assets.

Control and operating record

The v3 white paper describes non-upgradeable core pool contracts, with UNI governance able to enable a bounded protocol fee. Permissionless pool creation means the Uniswap label does not underwrite either token, chosen range, router, position manager or third-party strategy vault. The core has a multi-year operating record; we found no core-pool loss that overrides the class decision. That record cannot turn an LP payoff into a lending or staking payoff.

The exit

The NFT owner may decrease liquidity and collect the resulting tokens and accrued fees. Exit does not restore the original deposit ratio: an out-of-range position is already single-sided, and converting back realizes market impact and the relative loss. A third-party managed position can add its own withdrawal rules and contract risk.

Why the class rule decides

The amm-lp rule is dispositive because inventory rebalancing is the source of the position’s fee opportunity, not an incidental implementation defect. This memo therefore does not rank pools or ranges and does not represent an individual rejection of Uniswap security. Review reopens only for a distinct Uniswap product without LP inventory and impermanent-loss exposure.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

Inherited controls

The verdict above grades the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The least safe layer sets the position’s grade, and the position table names which one that is.

ChainVerdictGradeControl constraint
BaseApproved · limits hybrid Coinbase — one regulated US company — operates the only sequencer, and admin keys can upgrade bridge contracts within ~7 days.
EthereumApproved sovereign No sequencer, no upgrade key, no operator who can be compelled — rule changes require social consensus.
Arbitrum OneApproved · limits hybrid a single sequencer orders >99% of transactions and admin keys can upgrade bridge contracts on a ~7-day timelock.
Polygon PoSRejected hybrid a public validator set orders transactions, but a 5-of-9 multisig can instantly upgrade staking and canonical bridge contracts, while a 5-of-8 controls custom child tokens.
BNB Smart ChainRejected freezable the validator set concentrates around one company, and the chain has been halted by decision.
OP MainnetRejected hybrid Ethereum forced inclusion limits sequencer censorship, but the Foundation and Security Council can co-sign an immediate upgrade before a client can exit.
AvalancheApproved · limits crypto-backed no party can freeze or seize C-Chain funds, but one vendor writes the only production client and Messari measured over a third of stake hosted on AWS.
MonadApproved · limits crypto-backed the L1 has a public validator path, but its short production record, single initial client lineage, and Foundation-directed delegation keep stake and operations concentrated.
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