Binance Hack Could Accelerate Shift to DEXs and Benefit Uniswap, Standard Chartered Says
Key Takeaways
- •Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick said the $6.3 billion Binance hack should drive a continued increase in the ratio of decentralized to centralized exchange trading, benefiting Uniswap.
- •Kendrick retained his $100 price target for Uniswap's UNI token by 2030, stating the hack is another reason the forecast may end up being too low, building on the bank's thesis that DeFi assets could reach $2.7 trillion by 2030.
- •CoinGecko research showed the top 10 spot DEX-to-CEX ratio stood at 23.5% in the second quarter of 2026, rising 2.1 percentage points from the first quarter.
- •Crypto markets extended their decline after the hack, with BNB down more than 8% over 24 hours, Bitcoin trading near $77,000, AAVE falling 11.3% to $118.54, and UNI dropping 10.4% to $6.48.
- •Binance said the hack involved a compromised engineer's laptop, and Kendrick noted a new market base will only form once assets are unfrozen and more details of the breach emerge.
The recent hack of Binance could accelerate a shift in crypto trading toward decentralized exchanges, benefiting Uniswap over the longer term, according to Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.
In an email shared with Cointelegraph, Kendrick said the breach should drive further growth in decentralized exchanges' share of trading relative to centralized platforms, though investors should wait until the impact of the Binance attack has had time to play out in the markets.
“I would encourage investors to re-engage with Uniswap,” said Kendrick. “The decentralized exchange (DEX) has never had any exploits, and the hack of the largest centralized exchange (CEX), in Binance, should see the ratio of DEX to CEX trading continue to increase.”
The two trading models differ fundamentally in custody: centralized exchanges hold customer funds in company-controlled wallets, whereas decentralized venues such as Uniswap settle trades through smart contracts, leaving users in control of their assets until a swap executes on-chain.
Supporting data from CoinGecko research shows that the top 10 spot DEX-to-CEX ratio stood at 23.5% in the second quarter of 2026, climbing 2.1 percentage points from the first quarter of 2026. The ratio is tracked in CoinGecko's quarterly industry reports, providing a recurring measure of how spot volume splits between decentralized and centralized exchanges.
Kendrick said he retains his $100 price target for Uniswap (UNI) for 2030, adding that the Binance hack is “another reason why that forecast may end up being too low.” UNI is the governance token of the Uniswap protocol. The forecast builds on Standard Chartered's earlier thesis that assets locked in DeFi could reach $2.7 trillion by 2030, with Uniswap emerging as a key trading venue for tokenized assets.
Looking at the broader implications of the hack, Kendrick said he expects further negative price action in the near term. Cointelegraph reported that cryptocurrency markets extended their decline early Friday following the Binance hack, with BNB down more than 8% over 24 hours and Bitcoin trading near $77,000. Decentralized finance tokens also declined: Aave's AAVE fell 11.3% to $118.54, while Uniswap's UNI dropped 10.4% to $6.48, according to CoinGecko.
“Only after assets are unfrozen and more detail of the hack emerges will we find a new base,” said Kendrick.
Binance has said in live updates that the $6.3 billion hack involved a compromised engineer's laptop.
Source: Cointelegraph
