How to Add a Token on Uniswap: List Custom ERC20 Tokens (DeFi)

Author: Boopathi Krishnan

One of the important aspects of a cryptocurrency is: is it a coin or a token; they can be bought, sold and exchanged for other cryptocurrencies. The problem is that you can’t trade them until an exchange decides to list them.

Thanks to DeFi (decentralized finance) and all the DEXs (decentralized exchanges) that are available today. Now anyone can independently list a token and make it available for others to trade. No exchange listing fees, no waiting periods, and no unnecessary hassles to deal with.

But we still can’t list the coins with this method. In the future we will achieve it. Currently, tokens can only be added on a DEX like Uniswap; particularly ERC-20 token creator (Ethereum-based tokens).

In this beginner’s guide, we will demonstrate how to add a token on the Uniswap decentralized exchange. If it can be your own custom ERC20 token that you want to sell to your investors. Or it could be your favorite token that isn’t available for trading anywhere yet.

What is Uniswap?

Uniswap is simply a decentralized exchange. It is not a normal DEX where you have order books queued up with buy orders and sell orders. But rather an automated market maker (AMM) exchange. It serves as a trustless and highly decentralized financial infrastructure. Furthermore, it is a highly secure and fully audited protocol that is permissionless and censorship resistant.

It is a decentralized liquidity protocol on top of Ethereum that allows you to trade and list the ERC 20 token. There are no limitations. Any ERC20 token generator can be listed and traded on Uniswap. It does this using the power of smart contracts.

How does the token listing work?

The Uniswap protocol is powered by a market of trading pairs. Each trading pair is managed and protected by a unique smart contract that is implemented on the Ethereum network. Anyone, including you, can create a trading pair and become a liquidity provider by putting reserves in the trading pair’s pool.

Once a pair is implemented, users can start trading and providing liquidity. All of that without having to create an account or verify KYC. Being an automated market maker protocol; Uniswap is not dependent on order books as we said before. Instead, it uses an algorithm that determines the price. We will explain the algorithm and all its technical aspects in a separate guide. For now this is all you need to know.

Uniswap provides a simple interface for users to exchange between ETH and any ERC20 token. It is best used when you want to trade tokens quickly and at the current market price. Now that you have learned what Uniswap is and how it works, let’s see how to list the tokens on this exchange.

Requirements to list an ERC20 token:

Suppose you started a DeFi project that has its own ERC20 token and you want to list it on Uniswap. This is what you will need. You will need a 3 web wallet to connect with Uniswap. You can connect wallets like MetaMask, Wallet connect, Coinbase Wallet, Fortmatic and Portis. The most popular on this list is the MetaMask browser extension. We hope you have your wallet ready. If you’re new and not sure how to set it up or use it, here’s a beginner’s guide to MetaMask.

The contract address of the ERC20 token you want to add on Uniswap. We hope that the token is already implemented on the Ethereum mainnet and is also available in your MetaMask wallet. You can retrieve the token contract address from Etherscan.io or Coin gecko.

Also learn how to add custom tokens to MetaMask. ETH to cover gas fees and liquidity you want to provide to the trading pair. Whether you want to trade, add liquidity, or just list tokens, you’ll need Ethereum in your wallet to pay network fees. Find out why you need ETH for ERC20 tokens?

How to add a token on Uniswap

The first step is to unlock your wallet, connect to Uniswap and check if the token is already available or not.

1. To do so, first go to Uniswap clone

  1. In the top right corner, you will see an option that says "Connect to a wallet". Click on it, choose MetaMask or the wallet of your choice, unlock it and click connect.
  2. Once connected, go to Uniswap clone script. Now click on "select a token" and search for the token.

Since it is a custom token, you will not find it in the default Uniswap list. You will have to search for the token using its address.

Anyone can create and name any ERC20 token on Ethereum, including creating a fake version of existing tokens. Also tokens that claim to represent projects that don’t have a token.

It simply gets token information from the token address that you provide. Before you interact with an ERC20 token, do your research and make sure the token contract address is correct. Also, before trading or providing liquidity, be sure to check out the token analytics on Uniswap.info.