The ecological projects surrounding Uniswap V4 Hook are increasingly numerous, but projects that can rely on Hook to establish real businesses still need time to filter out.

Written by: KarenZ, Foresight News

In the world of DeFi, Uniswap has never lacked imitators, but recently, a new batch of projects has begun to attempt to create something different based on Uniswap.

Some focus on transaction fees, some attempt to redistribute arbitrage profits, some explore new liquidity management methods, and others hope to make token trades have more complex execution rules.

There is a common technical keyword behind these projects: Hook.

Hook is not a new feature recently launched by Uniswap. It has been one of the core innovations of this version since Uniswap v4 officially went live in January 2025. Now, as projects built around Hook continue to emerge, this originally developer-focused technical concept has begun to enter the sights of more crypto investors.

This article will lay out 9 relatively popular Hook ecological projects (not investment recommendations) including Hookr, StonkBrokers, What The Hook, Bordrless, The Standard Reserve, Programmable, Claus, and Fables Finance, to see what developers are doing with Hook.

What is Hook? Adding "custom rules" to Uniswap's liquidity pools

Simplistically, Uniswap provides the basic trading infrastructure, while Hook allows developers to write additional operational rules for specific liquidity pools.

In Uniswap v4, Hook is an external smart contract attached to liquidity pools. It can execute custom logic before and after operations like pool creation, liquidity addition and removal, and trading, allowing developers to design different rules for different markets.

For example, transaction fees can be adjusted according to market changes, trades can trigger rewards, and liquidity pools can also connect to specialized pricing or order mechanisms.

Behind the Heat: The Triple Risks of Early Projects

Of course, compared to mature DeFi protocols, some of the currently attention-grabbing Hook ecological projects are still in the product and market validation stage.

The first is the risk associated with technology and smart contracts. While Hook can execute custom logic within the trading process, this also expands the scope of code that needs to be reviewed. The infrastructure of Uniswap v4 has been developed and tested, but that does not mean any third-party Hook automatically inherits the same level of security. Complex trading logic may also lead to unexpected execution results. Custom accounting, external oracles, dynamic fees, and upgradable permissions can all affect the safety of trading and liquidity.

Secondly, there is the risk of market liquidity and price volatility. Early tokens may experience significant price fluctuations due to a smaller trading pool, with noticeable ups and downs on small amounts of buying and selling. Investors need to pay attention not only to token prices and market capitalization but also to check actual tradable liquidity, holding concentration, bundling extent, token issuance authority, and the trading behavior of large holders.

Finally, there is the risk of a disconnect between product value and token value. A Hook, even if it can realize useful functions, does not mean its issued tokens will necessarily capture protocol revenue. Project-promoted trading volumes, transaction fees, repurchase mechanisms, or profit distributions all need to be carefully considered.

It is especially important to note that deployment on Uniswap v4 does not equate to obtaining Uniswap's official endorsement; using Hook technology does not guarantee that a project has established a sustainable business model.

Thus, the projects below are more suitable as an early ecological observation list rather than investment recommendations.

Several Worthy of Observation Hook Related Projects

Hookr

The focus of Hookr is to make it easier for developers and project parties to combine, deploy, and use Hook. The platform operates on the Robinhood Chain, supports new token issuance, and also supports creating new Uniswap v4 pools for existing assets. Creators can choose dynamic fees, anti-sniping, automatic burning, and LP rewards as Hook Blocks to configure different rules for different pools.

Its product range has already extended to Builder (creating pools with Hook or deploying Hook), Hook directory, SDK, and HookrScan (view ratings). Thus, Hookr's highlights are not just in issuing tokens but also in whether it can lower the threshold for using Hook: making it easier for traders to understand the rules, enabling developers to reuse modules, and allowing other products to connect to these markets.

However, the more combinable features there are, the more specific pool configurations need to be checked. The official website also clearly states that the contracts have undergone adversarial reviews but have not yet accepted external audits.

According to GMGN data, Hookr's current token HOOKR has a market cap of $26.5 million, with a peak market cap of $31.43 million.

StonkBrokers

StonkBrokers is a DeFi infrastructure and experimental suite running on the Robinhood Chain, focusing on stock tokens, Uniswap v4 Hooks, and liquidity pools.

It combines DeFi tools with tokenized American stocks on the Robinhood Chain, while also providing NFT community, Launchpad, and incubation features. The team claims to act as an "on-chain Y Combinator" through Special Projects, providing tracks, liquidity, and community distribution for early projects.

On October 14, Beijing time, StonkBrokers utilized the Uniswap v4 Hook feature to collaborate with Hookr to create a new type of token called "Pair Token," which is a hybrid, auto-compounding ERC-20.

The principle is to merge two tokens into a new token (For example, ETH + NVDA = ETHNVDA, or NVDA + TSLA = NVDATSLA). Each pair token represents a proportional share of the corresponding full-range Uniswap v4 liquidity pool.

Utilizing new primitives created with Uniswap v4 Hook. Merging two tokens (such as ETH + NVDA = ETHNVDA) into an auto-compounding ERC-20 that represents a share of a full-range Uniswap v4 liquidity position. It can be minted, traded, and redeemed, with fees automatically compounded (stock tokens also have dividend compounding effects). In terms of fees, minting and redemption are free. A 10% fee is charged on LP fees during compounding for STONKBROKER buybacks.

Further reading: 《Can NFT also earn stock tokens? What exactly is StonkBrokers?》

《NFT value rises to 13 ETH, and StonkBrokers is about to open a launchpad》

According to GMGN data, the current market cap of STONKBROKER is $15 million, with a peak market cap of $95.75 million on August 12.

What The Hook

What The Hook (WTH) has a relatively clear product entry point: redistributing arbitrage profits between trading pools.

In AMM trading, different liquidity pools may experience temporary price differences due to trading activity. Arbitrage traders can realize profits by buying and selling once they identify these differences, prompting the prices of different markets to align again.

What The Hook aims to change is not the arbitrage behavior itself, but who ultimately receives the arbitrage profits.

According to its official documentation, What The Hook checks price differences between associated trading pools on Robinhood via the Uniswap v4 Hook, executing arbitrage when there is still profit after meeting execution conditions and deducting relevant costs, and allocating the actual obtained profits.

Its documentation lists two profit distribution methods:

• WTH's own trading pool: Traders receive 10% of captured arbitrage profits, while WTH's treasury receives 90%.
• Third-party accessing trading pool: By default, 5% of profits go to traders, 45% to the liquidity pool, 40% to WTH's treasury, and 10% to referring partners.

It needs to be emphasized that these proportions pertain to successfully captured arbitrage profits, and the distribution ratios for specific cooperation deployments can be adjusted.

The business logic of WTH is that if more third-party trading pools connect to its Hook, the protocol could potentially earn income from more arbitrage activities. However, it also faces practical limitations: arbitrage opportunities do not occur with every transaction, and competitive arbitrage mechanisms, transaction costs, market depth, and the number of connected pools can all affect final earnings.

More importantly, income obtained by WTH's treasury does not equate to direct dividends for WTH token holders.

According to GMGN data, the current market cap of WTH is $6.4 million.

Programmable (@ProgrammableHQ)

Programmable is a token and custom project issuance platform based on Uniswap v4, providing a modular issuance method that requires no programming, as well as a custom issuance interface aimed at developers. The platform currently supports the Ethereum mainnet and the Robinhood Chain network.

The platform mainly offers two paths:

The first is Module Mode: selecting compatible modules on the website and configuring parameters without having to write a complete smart contract.

The second is Custom Launch: Developers can prepare project issuance using their own tokens, Hook, or other associated contracts through the API.

Both it and Hookr are lowering the deployment threshold for the customized market. For such platforms, long-term competitiveness may depend more on module quality, integration capabilities, and practical use, rather than just short-term issuance quantity.

As of the time of writing, among the tokens issued via Programmable, sorted by market cap, the Claus token (see below) reached a market cap of $6.42 million, and Programmable's official token V4 on the Robinhood Chain network currently has a market cap of about $4.64 million. Another project, Temo, has a market cap of $450,000.

Claus

Claus (CLAUS) is an experimental project built on Ethereum Uniswap v4 Hook. Its core feature is that after token issuance, it is possible to add, modify, or remove functionalities through updating the Hook contract without having to reissue the tokens. The CLAUS token is issued via Programmable.

Fables

Fables Finance is a decentralized exchange built on Uniswap v4 Hook on the Robinhood Chain, combining ve(3,3) token economic models with programmable trading pool mechanisms, aiming to enhance the flexibility of liquidity incentives and transaction fee distribution.

Its core feature is using Hook to set dynamic fees for different trading pools, adjusting trading costs based on market volatility and other conditions to improve the revenue structure for liquidity providers. At the same time, Fables introduces the ve(3,3) mechanism, combining token locking, governance voting, and liquidity incentives, allowing participants to influence incentive distribution.

Further reading: 《Fables points conclude in October, is the "short and quick" US stock market making protocol worth participating in?》

The Standard Reserve

The Standard Reserve uses Hook for a type of on-chain monetary policy experiment. Its designated ETH/STANDARD trading pool tracks net ETH flow, with the "central bank" contract adjusting issuance based on this: continued inflows correspond to issuance expansion and reserve accumulation, while outflows correspond to issuance contraction, coupled with a buyback and destruction mechanism.

According to GMGN data, the current market cap of STANDARD token is $26.17 million.

Further reading:

《The Standard Reserve's on-chain monetary experiment: What new tricks are being played?》

《Market cap speed pass 50 million, NFT floor price 30,000, what are the earnings of The Standard Reserve?》

Bordrless

Bordrless needs to be separately explained, as it uses a Hook mechanism developed independently on Solana, rather than being built directly based on Uniswap v4 Hook.

It has built its own token standard, DEX, and issuance platform on Solana, allowing developers to write custom rules for token transfers, minting, burning, and trading.

For example, developers can design mechanisms such that when token transactions occur, part of the amount automatically enters a designated account, while some tokens are burned; or they can change fee rules based on holding time, market status, and other conditions.

The idea is to endow the tokens themselves with richer programmable capabilities while supporting trading and issuance activities through the accompanying DEX and Launchpad.

As of the time of writing, only 2 tokens issued through the Bordrless Launchpad are valued between $100,000 and $200,000, while the rest range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.

According to GMGN data, the current market cap of Bordrless token BORDR is $6.4 million.

Conclusion

From these product paths, it can be seen that Hook is enabling trading pools to take on more functions: combining issuance rules, redistributing arbitrage profits, managing reserves, providing governance signals, and responding to market risks for different assets.

What is more worth observing next is whether the custom rules create real value? Whether there are external users or projects willing to continue using? And whether these usage activities can generate verifiable protocol income?

The number of projects capable of writing Hook may be increasing, but those that can rely on Hook to establish real businesses still need time to filter out.