Uniswap (UNI) has faced a challenging period on the price chart over the past three weeks, significantly underperforming compared to the broader crypto market. While many altcoins recorded strong breakouts alongside Bitcoin’s early-January rally — with some maintaining upward momentum — UNI has largely failed to keep pace, raising concerns among market participants.
Roughly a month ago, UNI showed early signs of bullish momentum as the “UNIfication” proposal moved closer to approval. The governance vote concluded on December 25 with overwhelming support, comfortably surpassing the required quorum and reflecting strong community backing.
Despite this, a series of developments widely viewed as positive catalysts — including plans to burn 100 million UNI tokens, Uniswap Labs disabling interface fees, and the activation of fee-sharing mechanisms on supported protocols — have not translated into sustained price appreciation. Instead, UNI has continued to weaken relative to Bitcoin and the broader market, gradually eroding bullish confidence.
On-Chain Signals and Price Action: A Mixed Picture
According to a recent post by crypto analytics firm Santiment, the top 100 largest wallets on the Uniswap network have been quietly increasing their UNI holdings. Over the past eight weeks, these wallets have accumulated approximately 12.41 million UNI tokens.
Historically, such whale accumulation has often preceded periods of price recovery, suggesting that larger players may be positioning ahead of a potential market reaction. However, current on-chain metrics indicate that this accumulation has not yet been strong enough to shift overall market structure.
The 180-day “mean coin age” metric has declined sharply over the past three weeks, signaling increased token movement rather than long-term holding. At the same time, “dormant coin circulation” spiked on December 26, indicating that previously inactive tokens have re-entered circulation. Notably, mean coin age has yet to recover, suggesting that broader network-wide accumulation remains weak.
While the 180-day MVRV ratio remains deeply negative — typically interpreted as a sign of undervaluation — short-term MVRV has recently flipped into positive territory. This shift implies rising profit-taking risk among short-term holders, adding further pressure to price action.
Technical Outlook: Bears Still in Control
Following the post-UNIfication news, demand quickly faded, pushing UNI back below the $6 level. On the daily timeframe, price structure continues to favor the downside. The failure to sustain December’s breakout above $6, combined with signals from the Accumulation/Distribution (A/D) indicator, suggests that buying interest remains sporadic and lacks conviction.
Currently, UNI is trading below both its 20-day and 50-day moving averages, reinforcing the prevailing bearish bias. A decisive breakdown below the $4.73 support zone would further validate the downtrend and may invalidate accumulation-based expectations tied to whale behavior.
In this context, more cautious investors may prefer to wait for clearer signs of strength and sustained demand before reassessing UNI’s outlook.
This article is for informational purposes only and reflects personal market observations. It is not financial advice. Always conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.
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