An unusual tale from Uniswap's early rivalry with SushiSwap has been uncovered by Hayden Adams. It concerns a domain that Sam Bankman-Fried purchased after Uniswap Labs declined to pay the original owners' seven-figure asking price.

The founder of Uniswap posted the account on X on September 20, 2026, claiming that SBF then referred the domain to SushiSwap. The move did not sustain. Eventually, Uniswap's legal team used WIPO arbitration to reclaim the domain without having to pay for it.

SBF Bought the Domain After Uniswap Refused to Pay

Adams says that the original domain owners demanded seven figures from Uniswap. Uniswap Labs chose not to make that payment, making the domain available for purchase by another party.

Adams said that SBF then paid seven figures for it. The newly acquired domain was then pointed into SushiSwap, which he characterised as an obvious attempt to "flex/screw with us."

The dispute was made more complex by the destination choice. Uniswap's open-source code was used to create SushiSwap, a rival decentralised exchange, which made the domain redirect more than just a change in website location.

The Domain Was Redirected to SushiSwap

Instead of using the domain for an unrelated website, SBF directed it toward SushiSwap after acquiring it. The redirect made the connection between the name and a rival protocol clear to anyone who thought the domain was connected to Uniswap.

According to Adams, Uniswap's legal team decided that the use was sufficiently harmful to justify legal action. Rather than attempting to repurchase the domain, the company went to court to prove its claim.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation, which manages domain name disputes through its Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, was eventually brought into the case.

Fun fact, the og owners of https://t.co/bRvDs5brca wanted 7 figures, but we refused to pay that amount

So SBF bought it (for 7 figures) and pointed it to a fork - I guess to flex / mess with us

This malicious use of the domain was enough for our legal team to get it for free https://t.co/ZV0yJhdvZg

— Hayden Adams 🦄 (@haydenzadams) September 20, 2026

WIPO Arbitration Returned It to Uniswap

In 2021, Uniswap's legal team won the domain in WIPO arbitration. Adams claimed that instead of paying the seven-figure sum that the former owners had first requested, the company was able to retrieve it for free.

The usage of the domain and whether or not it constituted bad faith were at the heart of the dispute. Uniswap was able to contest the registration through the arbitration process without having to accept the domain's pricing.

As a result, the person who had originally paid a high price for the domain ended up losing money. Years later, Adams revived the incident as a little-known tale from Uniswap's early days.

Adams Revisits the Story Years Later

On September 20, 2026, Adams showed the episode as a "fun fact" from the early DeFi competition. He explained why SBF had purchased the site and how Uniswap eventually acquired it in his post, which included links to the domain and a WIPO document.

The rivalry between Uniswap and SushiSwap during that time is also depicted in the episode. After one project's domain was bought and routed to its competitor, Uniswap eventually reclaimed possession through arbitration.

The previous SushiSwap redirect is now a part of the project's past rather than its present use, as the domain now leads to Uniswap's official app.

If you find any issues in this article or notice missing information, please feel free to reach out at team@etherworld.co for clarifications or updates.

To promote your Web3 articles, events, and projects, you may reach out anytime via EtherWorld PR for submissions and collaboration.

Related Articles

1. Trueo Leaves Base for Ethereum Mainnet
2. X Launches Cashtag Trading With Coinbase, Kraken, & Major Brokers
3. Apple & Google Push Deeper Into Tokenziation & Stablecoins
4. Apple DarkSword Hack Puts iPhone Crypto at Risk
5. Lagarde Reportedly Blocks Binance's EU Crypto License

To follow blockchain news, track Ethereum protocol progress, and read our latest stories, subscribe to our weekly today.

Join the EtherWorld & Avarch Internship Program and build your career in blockchain, content, social media, video, podcast editing, or operations. Send your resume and brief introduction to contact@etherworld.co.