1inch

1inch
TypePrivate
IndustryDecentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain
FoundedMay 19, 2019; 7 years ago (2019-05-19)
FoundersSergej Kunz, Anton Bukov
Area served
Global
ParentDegensoft Ltd.
Website1inch.com

1inch is a decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem that provides crypto token swap services and liquidity aggregation across multiple blockchain networks. The platform was developed as a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator, combining liquidity from decentralized exchanges and market makers.

History

1inch was founded in May 2019 when Sergej Kunz and Anton Bukov developed a DEX aggregation prototype at the ETHGlobal hackathon in New York City. Degensoft Ltd was formally established the following year to support its development.

On August 11, 2020, 1inch completed its first private token sale, raising US$2.8 million, led by Binance Labs. A second private token sale was held on December 2, 2020, securing an additional US$12 million from investors, including Pantera Capital. In December 2020, the 1INCH token was launched on public exchanges, and the 1inch DAO was established.

On April 22, 2021, 1inch released the 1inch Wallet, a non-custodial mobile wallet for managing digital assets and performing swaps.

On December 1, 2021, a third private token sale raised US$175 million at a US$2.25 billion valuation, led by Amber Group and including institutional investors such as Jane Street, VanEck, Fenbushi Capital, and Alameda Research.

On December 25, 2022, the 1inch Fusion Protocol was released to enable more efficient routing and liquidity aggregation across protocols through intent-based execution.

On April 29, 2025, 1inch expanded to the Solana blockchain, followed by cross-chain swaps between Solana and other networks on August 19, 2025.

In May 2026, an attacker exploited a vulnerability in an outdated version of 1inch's contract used for Fussion v2, and about $15 million was taken from resolvers. 1inch said the contract was no longer in use, and the attacker kept bounty and returned the remaining assets to the affected resolver, TrustedVolumes. In July 2026 co-founder Anton Bukov announced that he was leaving the project and starting a new one called Second Tier.

Technology

The 1inch Aggregation Protocol is a smart-contract-based system that optimizes trade execution by splitting orders across multiple decentralized exchanges to achieve better pricing and lower gas costs.

The Limit Order Protocol enables the creation of gas-efficient limit orders and programmable conditional orders. Orders are created off-chain and settled on-chain, supporting request for quote (RFQ)-style execution models.

Launched in December 2022, Fusion is an intent-based swap protocol built on the Limit Order Protocol. It enables gasless, front-running-resistant swaps through a competitive resolver network that uses Dutch auction-style mechanisms to execute trades.

The 1inch Network is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), where token holders collectively make decisions about protocol parameters and development.

References

  1. ↑ "The race to power the DeFi ecosystem is on". The Economist. 15 January 2022. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 Dillet, Romain (1 December 2021). "Decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch grabs $175 million in token sale". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Auer, Raphael; Haslhofer, Bernhard; Kitzler, Stefan; Saggese, Pietro; Victor, Friedhelm (January 2023). The Technology of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) (PDF) (Report). BIS Working Papers. Bank for International Settlements. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  4. ↑ European Securities and Markets Authority; European Banking Authority (January 2025). Joint Report on recent developments in crypto-assets (Article 142 MiCAR) (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  5. ↑ OECD (April 2024). The Concentration of DeFi's Liquidity (PDF) (Report). OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions. OECD Publishing. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Check out the 9-slide pitch deck that helped crypto-exchange startup 1inch Network land $175 million from investors including Sam Bankman-Fried". Business Insider. November 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  7. ↑ Al-Fil, Gérard (2 October 2025). "Krypto-Börse 1inch: Sergej Kunz will endlich raus aus der Nerd-Ecke". finews.ch (in German). Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  8. ↑ Popa, Alin (15 April 2024). "1inch unveils Web3 debit card with Mastercard". The Paypers. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  9. 1 2 Bambysheva, Nina (1 December 2021). "1inch Network Raises $175 Million At $2.25 Billion Valuation To Bring Traditional Financial Institutions Into DeFi". Forbes. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  10. ↑ "Form D – 1inch Ltd". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 29 October 2020. CIK 0001830516. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  11. ↑ "Trademark "1inch" (Degensoft Ltd)". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Serial No. 99333632. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  12. ↑ Hunter, John Stanley (11 August 2020). "Millionen für DeFi-Startup 1inch". FinanceFWD (in German). Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  13. ↑ "Pantera Capital Leads $12 Million Investment Round For 1inch, A Non-Custodial Crypto Exchange Aggregator". Crowdfund Insider. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 Fang, Lucius; Azmi, Erina; Hor, Benjamin; Win Win, Khor (2021). How to DeFi: Advanced. CoinGecko. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  15. ↑ Souček, Ondřej (2 December 2021). "Fond Rockaway Blockchain poprvé investuje přes sto milionů. Vsadil na amerického jednorožce". E15 (in Czech). Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  16. ↑ Sadykov, Airat (4 December 2021). Ещё один сервис доставки и зарядки для электрокаров: кому дали денег на этой неделе [Another delivery and EV-charging service: who got money this week]. Forbes (in Russian). Forbes Russia. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  17. 1 2 Capponi, Agostino; Iyengar, Garud; Sethuraman, Jay (2023). "Decentralized Finance: Protocols, Risks, and Governance". Foundations and Trends in Privacy and Security. 5 (3): 144–188. doi:10.1561/3300000038. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  18. ↑ "Outdated 1inch Smart Contract Vulnerability Leads to $5 Million Loss, Hacker Returns Assets". ForkLog. March 7, 2025. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  19. ↑ "1inch co-founder exits after firing claim, unveils Second Tier". crypto.news. July 17, 2026. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  20. ↑ Olarinde, Adewale (July 16, 2026). "1inch confirms Anton Bukov's departure after co-founder says he was fired". AMBCrypto. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  21. ↑ Kitzler, Stefan; Victor, Friedhelm; Saggese, Pietro; Haslhofer, Bernhard (2022). "Disentangling Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Compositions". ACM Transactions on the Web. 16 (4): 1–26. doi:10.1145/3532857. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  22. ↑ Xu, Jiahua; Paruch, Krzysztof; Cousaert, Simon; Feng, Yebo (2023). "SoK: Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) with Automated Market Maker (AMM) Protocols". ACM Computing Surveys. 55 (11): 1–50. doi:10.1145/3570639. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  23. ↑ Beelen, Dennis (2025). An Analysis of DeFi Aggregators with a Focus on Swapping Functionalities (PDF) (MSc thesis). Central European University. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  24. ↑ OECD (2023). DeFi Liquidations (PDF) (Report). OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions. OECD Publishing. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  25. ↑ OpenZeppelin (16 December 2021). "1inch Limit Order Protocol Audit". OpenZeppelin. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  26. ↑ Bachu, Brad; Wan, Xin; Moallemi, Ciamac C. (2024). "Quantifying Price Improvement in Order Flow Auctions". arXiv:2405.00537 [q-fin.TR].
  27. ↑ Yuminaga, Yuki; Chen, Dex; Sui, Danning (2025). "Execution Welfare Across Solver-based DEXes". arXiv:2503.00738 [q-fin.TR].
  28. ↑ European Systemic Risk Board (May 2023). Crypto-assets and decentralised finance: systemic implications and policy options (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 27 June 2026.