Hayden Adams Claims SBF Spent Seven Figures on Uniswap.com Domain Before Losing It

Key Points

• Hayden Adams alleges Sam Bankman-Fried purchased the Uniswap.com domain for a seven-figure sum.
• The domain reportedly redirected users to SushiSwap, a rival decentralized exchange platform.
• In September 2021, WIPO mandated the transfer of Uniswap.com to Uniswap Labs following a bad-faith determination.
• Official WIPO documentation does not list Bankman-Fried as the domain owner.
• The Uniswap.com domain currently redirects to Uniswap’s primary application.

The founder of Uniswap, Hayden Adams, alleges that Sam Bankman-Fried previously purchased the Uniswap.com domain for a seven-figure price before Uniswap Labs successfully reclaimed it through legal channels.

Adams shared this revelation in a September 21 post on X, detailing the domain’s complicated ownership history.

According to Adams, the initial domain holders demanded a seven-figure payment from Uniswap for Uniswap.com, which the company refused to pay.

Adams claims Bankman-Fried subsequently met that asking price and redirected the domain to a protocol fork competing with Uniswap.

Domain Pointed Users Toward SushiSwap Platform

Public documentation verifies that Uniswap.com directed traffic to SushiSwap during 2021.

SushiSwap emerged as a Uniswap fork and operated as a direct competitor in the decentralized exchange sector.

Uniswap Labs submitted a formal complaint regarding the domain in May 2021.

The World Intellectual Property Organization subsequently examined archived versions of the website and photographic evidence demonstrating Uniswap.com redirecting to SushiSwap’s interface.

The WIPO arbitration panel determined that Uniswap Labs held legitimate registered trademark rights for UNISWAP.

Additionally, the panel ruled that redirecting traffic to SushiSwap failed to constitute legitimate domain usage.

The arbitrators concluded that the redirect presented a substantial risk of consumer confusion, potentially leading users to believe Uniswap Labs had authorized, sponsored, or affiliated with the destination site.

WIPO ruled that both the registration and usage of the domain demonstrated bad faith.

On September 3, 2021, the arbitration panel mandated the transfer of Uniswap.com to Universal Navigation Inc., the entity operating as Uniswap Labs.

This transfer procedure did not require Uniswap Labs to compensate the respondent financially.

Official WIPO Documentation Doesn’t Mention Bankman-Fried

A significant element of Adams’ narrative lacks independent verification in official case documentation.

The WIPO ruling identifies the respondent as Registration Private, Domains By Proxy, LLC and Future XXX based in Hong Kong.

Bankman-Fried’s name does not appear anywhere in the decision as either purchaser or registered owner of Uniswap.com.

The official record also contains no mention of a seven-figure transaction amount.

Adams’ X post did not include supporting documentation or identify who sold the domain.

Bankman-Fried did maintain a documented association with SushiSwap, however.

During a September 2020 governance emergency, he briefly assumed control of the project after its pseudonymous creator relinquished authority.

Bankman-Fried subsequently supervised SushiSwap’s protocol migration before transitioning control to a multisignature governance framework.

While this historical connection lends plausibility to Adams’ assertion, it doesn’t independently validate that Bankman-Fried purchased Uniswap.com.

Today, Uniswap.com automatically redirects visitors to the official Uniswap application located at app.uniswap.org.

Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year federal prison sentence related to FTX’s implosion, though the 2021 WIPO proceeding contained no personal findings concerning him.

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