Uniswap (UNI) has surged in price following a proposal by the Uniswap Foundation to overhaul the protocol's governance system. The 16th-largest cryptocurrency by market cap is up by just over 50% in 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Its price now stands at $11.20.

That jump makes it the best performing token today among the top 100 cryptocurrencies. The reason is due to a proposed "large-scale upgrade to Uniswap protocol governance to incentivize active, engaged, and thoughtful delegation," developers said.

In short, users who stake their tokens—that is, pledge them to the network—will receive rewards.

The Uniswap Foundation added that it believes that "UNI token holders will be incentivized to choose delegates whose votes and engagement with the protocol will lead to the Protocol's growth and success."

Uniswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Ethereum. It allows anyone to swap Ethereum-based tokens and is different from centralized exchanges like Coinbase because anyone can use Uniswap without a sign-up process.