Uniswap Labs, a decentralized exchange, has announced the launch of Unichain, a new Ethereum-based Layer 2 blockchain designed for faster and cheaper transactions and improved liquidity across chains.

Powered by the Optimism Superchain, the new solution features: 1) one-second block times (which the company plans to later optimize to 200–250 milliseconds), 2) cross-chain interoperability, 3) a trusted execution environment (TEE) for block building, and 4) a community validation network (developed in partnership with Web3 development company Flashbots ).

The company stated that the new chain will be open-source, with the private testnet being made available as of today and the public mainnet due to go live later this year.

Analyst QuickTake : This product launch signals Uniswap's entry into the DeFi infrastructure space alongside other leading exchange providers such as Coinbase , Kucoin , and Binance , all of which offer their own layer 1 and 2 blockchain networks. Notably, this announcement comes at a challenging time for the company, which has been dealing with various regulatory issues over the past year. In April, it received a “Wells” notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and, just last month, it settled charges with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).