A feature allowing anonymous Uniswap trading has returned

Uniswap serves as a massive player in the decentralized finance, or DeFi, niche of the crypto space. Incognito, a blockchain focusing on crypto privacy, has reopened pUniswap, a way to participate on Uniswap privately. 

“Uniswap, Ethereum’s largest DEX, just went Incognito. Again,” Incognito announced in a blog post on Thursday. Aimed at enhancing the project, Incognito put pUniswap on hold back in September.

Participating in the DeFi ecosystem often means interacting with the Ethereum blockchain, as many platforms operate on its network. That said, some folks value privacy. Without pUniswap, transactions on the DeFi exchange can be traced back to specific wallet addresses.

“With this second iteration, cross-chain fees have been integrated [into] pool selection, to make sure you get the best bang for your buck when trading,” the Incognito blog post detailed, adding:

“Incognito’s low fees mean that for smaller trades, the pDEX will be your best value. But until pDEX liquidity rivals Uniswap, your best outcome may be with pUniswap for larger trades.”

Incognito includes a function that helps users know whether to use pDEX — Incognito's native decentralized exchange — or pUniswap. How exactly does Incognito offer private Uniswap use though? “pUniswap uses Incognito’s shielding smart contract to interact with Uniswap, with Incognito acting as a trustless proxy,” the post explained. “This enables anyone to perform swaps without having to directly interact with the Ethereum blockchain.” On Ethereum, it would basically look as if all Incognito users are transacting from the same wallet. 

Regulation has surfaced as a concern for DeFi in recent months, as the boom somewhat resembles the initial coin offering days of 2017, which eventually ended in regulatory-led demise. Making the niche private could turn into a double whammy for regulators, who recently took an interest in cracking privacy asset Monero.

In 2020, DeFi has moved around billions of dollars in volume. The sector recently tallied its millionth Ethereum wallet address, showing the movement’s popularity.