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In this edition of Atrium's Developer Journey, we speak with Akshat Mittal, a passionate builder and innovator in the Web3 space, to explore his journey into crypto, his experience with the Uniswap Hook Incubator, and the groundbreaking projects he’s developed using Uniswap v4.
Background: how did you get into web3 and into the Uniswap ecosystem?
I have always been a builder at heart, which led me to gravitate towards startups and open-source projects very early on. As I spent time building, it took me a while to get good at it, and then not as much time to become great. As I delved deeper into technology and programming, I found myself enjoying complexity more — especially the challenge of breaking things down to eliminate that complexity.
I discovered crypto very early on in 2010, but I didn’t pay much attention to it until later when Ethereum introduced smart contracts. During that time, I realized how challenging it was to work on Ethereum, which motivated me to create solutions that could help make it easier for others. This was essentially the beginning of my journey into Web3, and years later, I find myself writing smart contracts for multi-million dollar protocols. The rapid pace of this space means there is always more to learn and explore—it's truly unlike anything else.
I first encountered Uniswap during the V2 days, having only heard about V1 a couple of times. The AMM concept intrigued me because it simplified a complex process and operated entirely on-chain, simultaneously unlocking a new primitive for trading at that time. I ended up building tools for Uniswap V2, then for V3, and now for v4. Along the way, I met many people and learned a great deal from the experience. I've never looked back!
Why do you want to build on v4?
Uniswap has consistently been at the forefront of on-chain trading technology, particularly in the area of AMMs. Although Uniswap V2 and V3 serve as strong foundations for development, they lack the ability to influence their underlying behavior. This is where Uniswap v4 becomes particularly intriguing. v4 maintains the core features of the AMM while introducing the ability to influence it’s behavior, offering a
My experience with Uniswap V3 allows me to envision the possibilities that this new capability offers. I can build experiences that were previously impossible, such as developing a new incentivization model using a Concentrated Incentives Hook, creating a lending protocol for liquidity, or even establishing a prediction market entirely within the hook to facilitate trading. The ability to implement custom logic during the lifecycle truly unlocks a new set of capabilities, and that is what excites me about building with Uniswap v4.
Why did you join UHI? How was the experience being a dev in UHI?
I joined the very first batch of the Uniswap Hook Incubator (UHI). At that time, I was already exploring Uniswap v4, which was in active development. UHI provided an excellent opportunity for me to deepen my understanding and connect with like-minded individuals. It was clear that Uniswap v4 would introduce a new primitive that would attract attention in the space, so I was determined to get a head start and develop on top of it. Having previously built projects with Uniswap V2 and V3, I already had ideas for v4, and joining UHI allowed me to start bringing those ideas to life while learning from others.
The experience during UHI was fantastic. I gained valuable insights about v4 and also about various other topics. I met many like-minded individuals, including the Atrium team, who were incredibly welcoming and always eager to help. Their support motivated me to strive for more and achieve greater things.
Tell us about your project: What inspired it? If you presented at Demo Day/won a prize, what was it like presenting & winning? What did the project lead to after UHI?
I built several projects during my time at UHI, targeting an existing pain point and trying to solve it the best I could think of.
Liquidity incentivization is a core concept in DeFi, one that goes far beyond any one protocol and exists universally across the entire space. It has always been hard to incentivize the right liquidity group and even more so to manage it appropriately. This issue inspired the Concentrated Incentives hook, which allows the pool creator to specifically incentivize the current tick or an active price range, ensuring that protocols can effectively reward the liquidity that meets their needs while giving the most rewards to those who help achieve these goals.
Another concept that's interesting to me is Prediction Markets. However, nearly all trading for the market options currently happens on order books, which is really hard to manage and even harder to perfectly create a spread for. This inspired the Unimarket hook, which created a prediction market inside the hook and allowed people to trade the outcomes directly via Uniswap v4, unlocking liquidity and trading for the options.
I was incredibly proud that both of these hooks received prizes during the UHI Demo Day! Presenting to an audience and explaining how these projects work was a surreal experience. I plan to develop both of these hooks further as I gather more insights into demand and engage with others to understand how they address specific pain points.
What are you exploring next?
I’m one of those people who enjoys juggling multiple projects at once. This approach helps me learn new things and explore a wide variety of interests. However, it also means I end up spending an excessive amount of time building things — though we’ll leave that topic for another time.
Currently, I’m working with Reserve Protocol to develop the next generation of the index protocol. I also run a small one-man Web3 studio called Metacrypt, which hosts several of my projects, including CreateMyToken and Unispark. Soon, there will also be Zaha Studio, focusing exclusively on projects related to Uniswap v4 and Unichain.
I’m very excited about building with Uniswap v4 and Unichain in the coming weeks and months, and I can’t wait to explore and discuss interesting new ideas!
What impact do you hope your work will have?
I'm not sure what to hope for, but all I can think about is leaving a positive impact on the ecosystem.
I enjoy building things, and I often do it simply because I love the process. However, seeing people use and enjoy the products I create brings a level of satisfaction that is truly unparalleled.
As I continue building, I'd love to focus on two things: to create for the joy of building and ensuring that every project leaves the world a little better than I found it. That’s the hope I carry with me, finding ways to innovate and inspire while sticking to my core values.
