[Feature] From Genie to Uniswap NFT: Are They Too Relaxed, or Is It a Sign of Ambition?

After a long and arduous half-year wait, Genie has finally presented incentives right to the doorsteps of NFT veterans. Although this incentive came late, it is still here and pretty decent. As long as you complete 2 transactions before 8am (GMT +8) 15 April this year, you can receive 300USDC. Owners of the Genie: Genesis NFT will be able to receive 1000USDC.

(For eligible wallets, they can redeem the USDC airdrops directly on Uniswap’s official website)

Most airdrops are meant to attract more traffic. For example, competitor Blur not only garnered enough attention for its first round of airdrops, but it also announced its second round of airdrop promptly after Genie’s airdrop. It is announced to be held on the following Monday, and is a scale 10 times bigger than that of Genie’s. However, for Genie’s airdrop, it seems to be more of a conclusive farewell to say “Thank you.”

As the first NFT aggregator, Genie went into a state of silence after it was announced to be bought over by Uniswap in June. When this airdrop drew eyes from the market to Genie again, they quietly wound up. It no longer operates as an independent brand – Open up Genie’s official website and it will redirect automatically to Uniswap’s NFT page.

If we were to simply critique Uniswap NFT as an NFT aggregator, this product is disappointing – It is barely any different from the old Genie. It seems as though the entire team has been asleep during this half year, giving others a sense of taking it too easy. The entire interface does not differ much from Gem, but it looks cleaner because it is less comprehensive than Gem.

(Comparison of the main page, the top being Gem’s and the bottom being Uniswap NFT’s page. We can see that Uniswap NFT lacks the “Portfolio”, “Sweeps” and “Mints” tab, and there is an additional function to change the currency to USD)

NFT aggregators now almost always have a dashboard, but Uniswap NFT is completely missing that. Other than a single dashboard on the main page, there is no data analysis chart even after clicking into the collection details.

(Comparison of collection details, the top being Gem’s and the bottom being Uniswap NFT’s page. Don’t you wish to remind Uniswap that they are doing an aggregator, and not a marketplace?)

The viewing and selling of your own NFTs is placed in your wallet details. In terms of usage, it seems a little separated from the page. Other than these straightforward and intuitive user experience, Uniswap’s description of their own product advantages make me feel a little speechless.

(“Better prices. More listings.” Isn’t this what an aggregator should do?)

But what Uniswap wishes to do is not simply an NFT aggregator. What they truly wish to do is a seamless ecosystem between FT and NFT trading. From this concept, the NFT aggregator is more a segment to better the user experience than a tool to fulfil the needs of current NFT traders, which is that of increasing the efficiency of trading.

Uniswap’s new router, Universal Router can complete a transaction through the process as shown below:

(If you have 100USDC, 0.1ETH and 250DAI, you can convert all these 3 tokens to WETH and complete your NFT purchase in one transaction)

From the experiential level, you can use whichever liquid FT to complete your NFT purchase on Uniswap. For example, to use SHIB to purchase a BAYC, you just need one transaction. It does sound pretty smooth. Furthermore, Universal Router also improved the savings on gas costs. According to Uniswap’s official article, Uniswap’s NFT can allow you to “save up to 15% on gas costs compared to other NFT aggregators”.

Uniswap’s creates a better price option at the end of the “one-stop consumption” process. The change in positioning of the aggregator is the bigger ambition behind the “relaxation”. It is not intending to create an insider breakthrough in the field of lessening NFT traders, but instead to create a more complete and convenient user experience for its already large userbase.

Just like this, Genie has completely incorporated into the Uniswap ecosystem and silently left the harsh and brutal racing tracks of NFT aggregators. From its functions, it is still Genie. But in terms of its development, it is no longer competing directly with OpenSea’s Gem, which is currently struggling with the attack of Gem, as well as Blur which is fighting for a place in the NFT aggregator industry. Although Genie’s airdrop was unable to reclaim the hearts of NFT traders – after all, this product is too backwards in terms of being an NFT aggregator – but if you are a beneficiary of the NFT airdrop and miss this sense of the early times, it is worth checking it out to experience it. Other than reminiscence, they also offer welfare, that is to reduce a portion of the gas costs. if your gas is not more than 0.01ETH, it will be waived off. If it is more than 0.01ETH, you will be returned 0.01ETH. I am not too positive about Uniswap NFT’s future. Let’s wait and see if it can create some miracles following their product iteration and market changes.