1inch Network

1inch Network is a decentralized exchange aggregator that routes swaps across multiple liquidity sources to find users the best available rate. What began as a DEX aggregation tool has evolved into a multi-product platform covering intent-based trading, cross-chain swaps, a mobile wallet, a liquidity layer, and a developer API suite spanning more than a dozen blockchains.

Origins and Background

1inch was built at the ETH New York hackathon in May 2019 by Anton Bukov and Sergej Kunz. The protocol addressed a straightforward problem: any single DEX at the time offered worse prices than a user could get by splitting a trade across several venues. The aggregator automated that splitting, finding optimal routes through fragmented on-chain liquidity. The project later launched the 1INCH governance token and transitioned to decentralized community governance through the 1inch DAO, supported off-chain by the 1inch Foundation, a non-profit that provides funding and stewardship for the broader ecosystem.

How the Aggregation Protocol Works

When a user initiates a swap, 1inch's aggregation engine scans liquidity across connected DEXes and automated market makers simultaneously. It calculates the most efficient route, which may involve splitting the trade across multiple venues or chaining through intermediate tokens, to minimize slippage and fees relative to any single-venue execution. All core smart contracts are open-source.

On top of classical aggregation, 1inch operates the Fusion protocol, an intent-based trading system. Users submit swap orders without paying gas upfront; professional market makers called resolvers then compete to fill those orders at the best price within a specified time window. Resolvers bid for the right to fill trades, and the competitive dynamic produces tight execution. Orders under Fusion carry built-in protection against maximal extractable value (MEV), since the user's intent is filled by a resolver rather than executed directly on-chain by the user's wallet.

Fusion+ and Cross-Chain Swaps

Fusion+ extends the intent model across chains. Launched on August 19, 2025, the feature connects Solana to more than a dozen EVM networks, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism, without relying on cross-chain bridges. Instead, Solana assets are directly swapped against EVM tokens through a trustless mechanism, avoiding the security risks associated with wrapped asset protocols. MEV protection carries through the cross-chain flow.

The feature is available through the 1inch dApp, the 1inch Wallet, and the Fusion+ API for developers building applications that need cross-chain swap infrastructure.

Solana Integration

1inch added native Solana support in 2025. From June 30, 2025, users could trade Solana-based tokens through the 1inch dApp, with the Fusion protocol deployed on-chain giving Solana users the same intent-based execution model as EVM users. Transaction costs on Solana through 1inch run below one cent per swap. The platform supports over one million Solana-based tokens.

For developers, 1inch released a Solana Fusion SDK alongside a broader API suite offering six APIs through its developer portal for building services on top of the Solana and 1inch infrastructure.

Aqua: Shared Liquidity Layer

The most significant product launch in 1inch's recent history is Aqua, introduced on July 28, 2026. Aqua addresses a persistent problem in DeFi liquidity provision: capital locked into a single protocol or vault sits idle for any other use. Under Aqua's design, one token balance can back multiple positions simultaneously, with funds staying in the user's wallet until a swap actually occurs. This contrasts with traditional AMM pools and LP vaults, where capital must be committed exclusively to a strategy and cannot be reused elsewhere.

1inch paired the Aqua launch with a 10 million 1INCH incentive program, split between volume rewards and partner co-incentives, plus a separate 500,000 USDC boost from the DAO.

Products and Developer Tools

Beyond swaps, 1inch offers a Portfolio tool for tracking assets and DeFi positions, a mobile wallet with security screening powered by partnerships with ZeroShadow and TRM Labs, and a crypto spending card with Apple Pay and Google Pay integration. The developer portal provides a Swap API covering classic, gasless, and intent-based swaps; an Orderbook API; Balance, Portfolio, Spot Price, Gas Price, Token, NFT, and Web3 RPC APIs; plus SDKs for Fusion, Fusion+, Solana Fusion, limit orders, and Aqua. The underlying infrastructure holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification.

In 2026 the team added an MCP Server to support AI agent integrations, allowing autonomous agents to access 1inch's swap and liquidity routing directly.

Security

1inch smart contracts have been audited by 16 independent security firms, a total reported by The Block as the highest for any DeFi project. Auditors have included Hacken. All protocol contracts are open-source. The wallet integrates real-time screening through ZeroShadow and TRM Labs to flag malicious addresses and potential scam activity before a transaction completes.

Scale and Network

As of the data available on 1inch's official site, the platform has processed over $811 billion in total swap volume, completed more than 264 million swaps, and connected over 27 million wallets. In 2025 alone, 115 million swaps were processed. The network covers 13 blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Gnosis, zkSync Era, Base, Linea, Sonic, Unichain, and Solana.

Governance and Token

The 1INCH token serves as both a governance and utility token. Holders stake 1INCH to gain voting power in the DAO, propose or vote on protocol settings, and delegate to resolvers. The 1inch DAO uses staking-based governance rather than simple token voting, meaning resolver rights and protocol parameters flow through an on-chain staking mechanism. Total supply exceeds 1.5 billion tokens, with roughly 1.37 billion in circulation held across more than 137,000 addresses, according to the 1inch Network's own reporting.

The 1inch Foundation functions as the off-chain counterpart, directing grants, ecosystem funding, and strategic coordination without controlling the on-chain governance process directly.

Fit on Solana

1inch's Solana presence spans three layers: a dApp and wallet for retail users trading the full universe of Solana tokens under Fusion's MEV-protected execution, cross-chain swap infrastructure through Fusion+ for users moving assets between Solana and EVM ecosystems without bridges, and a developer SDK for teams building on Solana who want to plug into 1inch's aggregation and intent-based routing. The Aqua liquidity layer, which launched mid-2026, extends the platform's capital efficiency offering to liquidity providers across the chains 1inch supports.