DeFi20 Spot DEXs

A cross-chain comparison of four landmark DEX protocols since 2022 — spanning Ethereum, Base, and Solana — across volume, fees, revenue, and market share.

Uniswap commands 23.5% of all DEX volume ($42.2B 30d) with $50.4M in fees, firmly the largest spot DEX by volume. Aerodrome has rapidly become the dominant exchange on Base with $17B 30d volume (9.5% DEX share) despite operating on a single chain since August 2023. Curve Finance has pivoted toward a lending+stablecoin-AMM hybrid — its 30d DEX volume stands at $3.7B (2% DEX share), but fees surged +98% MoM, reflecting crvUSD lending activity and a recovery in stablecoin pair demand. Jupiter (Solana) reports $947M in spot DEX volume, but functions primarily as an aggregator routing across Solana's entire liquidity; its $17M in 30d fees — on a fraction of Uniswap's volume — reflects its platform-fee model on top of underlying swap fees.

📍 Key macro context: DEX-to-CEX spot ratio reached 21.2% by late 2025, up from 6% in 2021. Solana DEX volume briefly overtook Ethereum in Jan 2026. Aerodrome's parent Dromos Labs is preparing an Ethereum mainnet launch to directly challenge Uniswap and Curve. [1][5]

TVL measures liquidity depth — the capital LPs have committed to each protocol. Uniswap leads at $3.1B TVL despite V4's CLMM efficiency compressing required capital. Curve's $1.4B TVL is heavily stablecoin-denominated (low impermanent loss risk). Jupiter's $1.3B TVL reflects its JLP perpetuals pool, which also backs spot liquidity. Aerodrome's $318M TVL is compact relative to its volume — its veAERO emission model concentrates incentivized liquidity into the highest-volume pairs.

Uniswap's multi-chain expansion and v3/v4 CLMM upgrades drove a compounding lead over the field. Aerodrome's explosive 2023–2025 growth on Base highlights how chain-native DEXs can dominate their home ecosystem. Curve's absolute volume has declined from 2022 peaks as concentrated liquidity (CLMM) venues absorbed stablecoin flow. Jupiter's DEX-native volume reflects only its JLP pools — its aggregator routing volume is significantly larger.

Each protocol dominates its home chain. Uniswap and Curve compete on Ethereum mainnet, Aerodrome is the leading DEX on Base, and Jupiter commands the Solana aggregator market. Q1 2026 chain-level DEX volumes (per TradeAlgo): Ethereum $218B, Solana $204B, Base $142B — Base's emergence as a DEX hub is largely Aerodrome-driven. [2]

Uniswap accrues fees to LPs (supply-side revenue); its protocol revenue is minimal (~10% of fees via governance-controlled fee switch). Aerodrome distributes fees to veAERO voters — a vote-escrow model that concentrates governance value to stakers. Curve distributes fees to veCRV holders. Jupiter retains a higher share of fees as protocol revenue (~28%) reflecting its aggregator model. The fee rate per unit of volume tells the real story: Jupiter earns ~1.8% in fees-to-volume vs Uniswap's ~0.12%.

Drilling into each protocol's home chain reveals true competitive dominance across the fee landscape:

Ethereum (Uniswap & Curve): Uniswap's CLMM pools have progressively captured Ethereum DEX fee share from Curve — from rough parity in 2022 to Uniswap commanding 50–65%+ of Ethereum DEX fees by 2025–2026. Curve's share has compressed as its StableSwap moat eroded against Uniswap's 0.01% fee tier. Uniswap v4's hook architecture and singleton contract further consolidate its Ethereum fee dominance.

Base (Aerodrome): Aerodrome's dominance on Base in fees is near-total — capturing 70–80%+ of Base DEX fees since mid-2023. Its veAERO emission model funnels LP incentives to the highest-volume pools, creating a self-reinforcing flywheel: more fees → more veAERO demand → better emissions allocation → deeper liquidity → more fees.

Solana (Jupiter): Jupiter's fee share on Solana reflects its aggregator positioning — it captures fees on routed swaps layered atop underlying venues (Orca, Raydium, Lifinity). As Solana DEX volume consolidates through Jupiter's interface, its fee capture competes with and increasingly exceeds standalone DEX venues on the chain.

Protocol revenue (what the DAO/treasury actually keeps) reveals divergent business models. Uniswap's revenue is nascent — the fee switch was only partially enabled in 2024 and allocates ~10% of fees to governance/treasury. Aerodrome's revenue matches Uniswap's ($4.9M 30d) despite 60% less volume, reflecting its higher LP fee retention. Curve keeps ~16% of fees as protocol revenue. Jupiter is the most efficient revenue capturer at ~28% fee-to-revenue conversion.

Full financial breakdown — gross revenue, costs (incentives/emissions), and earnings — for each protocol. Aerodrome and Curve's ve-model means a significant share of fees flow to token stakers rather than a treasury. Uniswap's income statement reflects the early stage of its fee switch activation. Jupiter's income statement highlights its multi-product revenue stack (aggregator, perps, lending).

Full DEX protocol rankings — sorted by 7-day volume. Use this to contextualize where Uniswap, Aerodrome, Curve, and Jupiter sit within the broader spot DEX competitive set, and track market share shifts in real time.