Uniswap crash: UNI closes below $5 and gives up half its September high

The Uniswap price dropped below $5 in the weekend market sell-off. On Saturday, November 14, 2026, UNI closed at $4.88 on Kraken, its lowest close since August 29. The intraday low was $4.61. On Sunday morning the token of the largest decentralized exchange trades at $5.12 (CoinGecko), down 7.7 percent from 24 hours earlier and almost 30 percent from a week ago. Half of the value at its highest daily close of the year, $10.22 on September 22, is gone.

Uniswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) on Ethereum and other networks: users swap tokens straight from their wallet against liquidity pools, without an account at any provider. UNI is the governance token used to vote on the protocol. With a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, UNI ranks 27th on CoinGecko, which puts it among the biggest losers of the week among the large cryptocurrencies.

Uniswap crash on November 15: price, daily range and volume

The weekend figures at a glance, each with date and source:

• Price on Sunday: $5.12, down 7.65 percent in 24 hours and 29.6 percent in seven days (CoinGecko, November 15).
• 24-hour range: $4.64 to $5.55, with $726 million worth of UNI traded (CoinGecko).
• Daily close on November 14: $4.88, with a daily high of $5.78 and a daily low of $4.61 (Kraken). The gap between high and low was 20 percent.
• Close a week earlier, on November 7: $7.21 (Kraken).
• Distance from the all-time high of $44.92 set in May 2021: minus 88.6 percent (CoinGecko).

In terms of the weekly loss, anyone who bought at the closing price on November 7 is now down almost 29 percent. The current price with chart and volume is on our Uniswap price page.

Why is Uniswap falling? Rate fears and the weekend crypto crash

There is no Uniswap-specific negative trigger these days. UNI is falling with the broader market, but much harder. Bitcoin lost 14.7 percent in the same week and stands at $65,345 on Sunday, while ether lost 19.5 percent to $1,826 (CoinGecko). The Fear and Greed Index for the crypto market stands at 10, in extreme fear territory (alternative.me, as of November 15).

The main driver is the US rate outlook. According to the CME FedWatch tool, futures traders on Friday priced in an 88.5 percent probability of a 0.25 percentage point rate hike at the Fed meeting on December 8 and 9, Bitcoin.com News reported on November 14. Higher rates make credit more expensive and safe assets more attractive; risky assets such as altcoins usually lose first. Our article on why bitcoin is falling sets out the reasons in more detail, and our crypto crash page provides the daily overview.

A governance token falling twice as hard as bitcoin in a sell-off is not unusual. Such tokens have a smaller buyer base, are traded with leverage more often and had risen more strongly in late summer. In Uniswap's case, the token had already lost considerable ground in the weeks before the slump; on November 11 we reported its lowest level since September.

Uniswap since its September high: from $10.22 to below $5

The price history of the past twelve months explains why the decline is so steep. In August UNI still stood at $3.20, the lowest daily close of that month, on August 14. By September 22 the price had climbed to $10.22, more than tripling. One driver was the debate over the protocol fee, which we covered on September 18 in our article on the fee switch.

After the weekend, around 72 percent of that rally has been erased. The daily close on November 14 was the lowest since August 29, when UNI closed at $4.68. On August 30, a day later, it closed at $5.14, almost exactly today's price. The lowest level of the past twelve months is well below that: on June 6, 2026, UNI closed at $2.47.

Fees, TVL and volume: what Uniswap data show in the crash

The gap between price and usage is striking. A price slump brings heavy trading, and that is what a DEX lives on. According to data from DefiLlama, Uniswap generated trading fees of $2.49 million on November 14, more than on any other day of the previous week. Over the past 30 days, fees totalled $72.9 million. Trading volume over the past 24 hours came to $2.77 billion.

Most of the fees go to liquidity providers, the users who deposit their tokens into the pools. The share DefiLlama reports as revenue for token holders was $346,000 on November 14 and $8.14 million over the past 30 days. Annualized, that would be just under $100 million, or around three percent of a market capitalization of $3.11 billion. That calculation reflects today's figures and is no promise for the future.

Total value locked (TVL), the combined value of the tokens deposited in Uniswap pools, points the other way. According to DefiLlama it fell from $3.93 billion to $3.05 billion between October 17 and November 15. Part of that is a pure price effect, because the deposited tokens themselves have lost value. For liquidity providers the crash is still costly: anyone providing ETH against a stablecoin in a pool holds more of the falling token after the slump than before.

Leverage on Uniswap: what 10x and 100x mean at a price around $5

Anyone looking to trade UNI in this market quickly comes across leveraged products. Leverage multiplies the price move on the capital deployed, in both directions. A long position bets on rising prices, a short position on falling ones. Our article on long and short in crypto explains the basics.

A worked example using Sunday's price: with 10x leverage and an entry at $5.12, a 10 percent fall to $4.61 means a loss of 100 percent of the stake. UNI hit exactly that daily low on November 14. If the price instead rises 10 percent to $5.63, the stake doubles. With 100x leverage, a move of about one percent, roughly 5 cents, is enough to liquidate the position. Fees and the funding rate come on top, so in practice liquidation kicks in somewhat earlier.

A liquidation means the exchange forcibly closes the position because the margin has been used up. Leveraged traders usually limit the risk with a small position size and a stop-loss, an order that closes the position automatically at a set price. In this weekend's sell-off, around $2 billion of positions across the crypto market were forcibly closed, according to our report of November 15, mostly longs; details are in our article on crypto liquidations.

Uniswap open interest: fewer open bets, fewer optimists

Open interest measures the total value of all open futures contracts on a coin. If it rises while prices fall, new bets are being added; if it falls, traders are closing positions or being liquidated. Our article on open interest explains more.

On the UNI perpetual on OKX, a futures contract without an expiry date, open interest fell from $42.1 million on the morning of November 12 to $34.5 million on Sunday morning, November 15, a decline of 18 percent. At the same time the long/short ratio of accounts dropped, meaning the number of accounts with a long position per account with a short position. In the early hours of November 13 it still stood at 2.87; by Sunday morning it was 1.76. The funding rate, through which the long and short sides pay each other, was last only just positive at 0.0034 percent per settlement period (OKX, November 15).

Taken together, this means many traders who had bet on a rebound have been forced out of the market. Most accounts are still long, but by a much narrower margin than before the slump.

Will Uniswap fall below $4.61? The levels from the price history

No one can make a credible price forecast. The price history does, however, provide levels traders watch. On the downside, the first zone lies between $4.68, the close of August 29, and $4.61, the intraday low of November 14. Below that is the area around $4.43, where UNI closed on August 28. If that zone also gives way, the next level is only the August low of $3.20, where the rally started.

On the upside, UNI would first have to reclaim the November 14 daily high of $5.78. After that come the November 12 close of $6.06 and the weekly close of November 7 at $7.21. A recovery to that point would fully offset this week's slump. How far the overall market has fallen in earlier cycles is covered in our article on how far bitcoin can fall.

Trading Uniswap in Europe: MiCA exchanges, perpetuals and CFDs

Investors in Europe have three ways to trade UNI. The obvious one is buying through a crypto exchange licensed under the European crypto regulation MiCA. MiCA stands for Markets in Crypto-Assets and sets EU-wide rules on which providers may trade and hold crypto assets for clients. Which platforms list UNI and what fees they charge is shown in our comparison of the best crypto exchanges; providers with a European licence are listed in our comparison of regulated crypto exchanges.

The second way is perpetuals like the OKX contract described above, which let you trade long and short with leverage. Such contracts are offered by centralized exchanges and by decentralized venues, listed in our comparison of perp DEXs. The third way is CFDs, contracts for difference on the price, offered by the brokers in our comparison of the best crypto brokers. A CFD only tracks the price; you do not own any coins. Whether a given provider offers a UNI contract is something you check there before opening an account.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. A high percentage of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Sell or hold Uniswap? Two scenarios after the crash

This article makes no recommendation. The situation can, however, be framed in conditions you can check yourself.

In the first scenario the broader market calms down. Bitcoin holds above its weekend low, rate expectations ahead of the Fed meeting on December 8 and 9 rise no further, and UNI holds the zone around $4.61 to $4.68 on a daily closing basis. In Uniswap's favour would be the fact that fees rose during the slump: the platform is being used even as the token falls. A recovery towards $5.78 would be the first hurdle in that case.

In the second scenario the sell-off continues. If UNI closes below $4.43, there is little technical support until the August low of $3.20. The shrinking TVL and the still mostly long accounts in the futures market suggest further forced selling is possible. How investors in the bitcoin market approach the same question is described in our article on whether to buy or sell bitcoin.

Crypto crash of November 14 and 15: where Uniswap stands in the field

Uniswap is not the only large altcoin with a double-digit weekly loss. Among the 30 largest cryptocurrencies on CoinGecko, UNI lost the most in seven days, ahead of Zcash at 29.1 percent and Solana at 20.7 percent. The same weekend also sent Avalanche, Cardano and NEAR to multi-month lows. Our report on bitcoin's fall to $63,500 sums up the overall market, and the current bitcoin price is on our bitcoin price page. An overview of the reasons is on our page why is crypto down.

Uniswap price: below $4.61, August levels begin

Uniswap has lost almost 30 percent in a week and given up half of its September high. The cause lies in the broader market; the severity of the decline lies in leverage and the preceding rally. Three points help put it in context:

1. Watch the daily close: what matters is whether UNI holds the zone of $4.61 to $4.68. You can compare UNI prices and fees at the best crypto exchanges.
2. Run the numbers on leverage before you trade: at 10x, a 10 percent move is enough for a total loss. Which venues offer perpetuals and at what fees is shown in the comparison of perp DEXs.
3. Look at the licence: for accounts in the EU, MiCA authorization is what counts. Which providers have it is listed in the comparison of regulated crypto exchanges.

(As of November 15, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)