Hayden Adams, founder of Uniswap Labs, has claimed that Sam Bankman-Fried purchased the Uniswap.com domain for a seven-figure sum to "flex" on the company. According to Adams, Uniswap Labs had previously declined the original owner's asking price for the domain at the same price point.
After acquiring the domain, Bankman-Fried allegedly redirected it to SushiSwap, a decentralized finance protocol operating in the same market as Uniswap. The domain later became the subject of a World Intellectual Property Organization dispute.
WIPO Ruling and Domain History
Uniswap Labs filed its complaint with WIPO on May 18, 2021, against the registered holder of Uniswap.com. The domain was originally registered on July 30, 2000, but the respondent's legal representative claimed acquisition on April 7, 2021, after Uniswap Labs had secured trademark rights.
At the time of the dispute, Uniswap.com redirected visitors to SushiSwap. The respondent later changed the domain to a website about sea urchin trading, using the Japanese term "uni," after the complaint was filed.
The respondent denied prior knowledge of Uniswap Labs, but WIPO rejected these claims. The panel found evidence that the respondent was aware of the company and considered it a rival. The Wayback Machine confirmed the domain had redirected to SushiSwap around the time the complaint was filed.
WIPO concluded the domain use created confusion with Uniswap Labs' trademark and was acquired in bad faith. Four months later, the organization ordered the domain transferred to Uniswap Labs. The WIPO decision did not identify Bankman-Fried as the respondent or formally establish his role in the acquisition.
Background on SushiSwap
SushiSwap launched in 2020 as a fork of Uniswap during the rapid growth of decentralized finance. Bankman-Fried became involved with the project in September 2020, when its creator, Chef Nomi, transferred control to him during a governance crisis following the withdrawal of developer fund tokens. Bankman-Fried subsequently helped oversee SushiSwap's migration before control gradually transitioned to a multisignature setup.
