Uniswap Expands Institutional DeFi Reach With Japan Gateway Development

Uniswap is expanding its reach into institutional decentralized finance (DeFi) with the development of a Japan-focused DeFi Gateway. SMBC Nikko, one of Japan's largest securities firms, and blockchain infrastructure firm Nethermind have partnered with Uniswap Labs, Base, and Nyx Foundation to create this on-chain trading venue for Japanese investors.

The proposed liquidity pools will use Uniswap v4 hooks, which allow compliance and investor-protection logic to operate directly within the pools. This infrastructure is expected to support stablecoins, real-world assets, and other digital assets. The partners are also working on AI-powered vaults and interfaces intended to simplify access to on-chain markets.

The Japan DeFi Gateway project has a targeted completion date of mid-2027, during which time the partners will engage with Japanese regulators as the infrastructure is developed.