1inch Network (1INCH) is a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregation and liquidity-routing protocol on Ethereum (ERC-20) that scans multiple DEXs to route swaps at optimal prices.
The project originated from an MVP built by Sergej Kunz and Anton Bukov at the 2019 ETHNewYork hackathon. It has since expanded into a suite including the Limit Order Protocol, the intent-based Fusion swap system, a self-custodial wallet, and institutional APIs, with cumulative aggregator volume of roughly $253.322B since launch.
1inch differentiates itself from single-venue DEXs by aggregating liquidity across dozens of sources and, through its Fusion system, using third-party resolvers to execute swap orders for users.
Its July 2026 "Aqua" shared-liquidity layer lets liquidity providers reuse the same wallet balance across multiple positions without pool-locking, live across 13 EVM chains at launch. Aggregator volume reached approximately $4.989B over a 30-day period, reflecting continued routing demand. The 1INCH token captures this activity through DAO governance rights over protocol parameters and incentive allocation, rather than direct fee capture.
1INCH is primarily a governance token: holders use it to vote on 1inch Improvement Proposals (1IPs) that set protocol parameters and incentive allocations.
Full or "instant" governance participation requires staking 1INCH (or holding a v1INCH balance); holders on Ethereum or BNB Smart Chain, including staked holders, can participate in voting.
1INCH has a fixed maximum/total supply of approximately 1.5 billion tokens, with circulating supply of approximately 1.41 billion as of 2026-09-02.
1INCH launched publicly on exchanges in December 2020, alongside formation of the 1inch DAO. The launch, over a year after the project's 2019 founding, included a retroactive airdrop to historical users of the 1inch exchange platform.
Prior to launch, 1inch raised $2.8M in an August 2020 private sale led by Binance Labs (with Galaxy Digital, Dragonfly Capital, FTX, and others), followed by a $12M private sale in December 2020 led by Pantera Capital via a SAFT. The on-chain contract deployment is dated 2020-12-23.
1INCH is natively an Ethereum (ERC-20) token; Ethereum uses proof-of-stake consensus.
The identical contract address is also deployed on BNB Smart Chain, with separate bridged or wrapped deployments on Optimism, Arbitrum, Avalanche ("1INCH.e"), Linea, zkSync, Base, Unichain, and Robinhood Chain. 1inch does not operate its own blockchain or validator set; it is a protocol built atop these existing networks.
1inch Network was founded by Sergej Kunz and Anton Bukov, who built the original MVP in 18 hours at the 2019 ETHNewYork hackathon.
Kunz has over 20 years of software engineering experience and has worked in crypto since 2011; Bukov has been a developer since 2002, in DeFi since 2017, with prior contributions to MultiToken, NEAR, and Synthetix. Bukov states he was dismissed from 1inch in November 2025 and launched a new venture, "Second Tier," in July 2026; 1inch disputes the characterization. Holly Atkinson joined as Chief Product and Technology Officer on July 7, 2026.
1inch Network is developed and maintained by 1inch Labs, the primary product and engineering entity. The 1inch Foundation, a separate non-profit, is responsible for distributing 1INCH tokens to the community under a lockup and incentivization schedule.
The 1inch dApp, wallet, and institutional APIs are reported to be developed by Degensoft Ltd, with corporate registrations in the DIFC (UAE) and BVI. The organization has also been identified as "1inch Limited," historically associated with the British Virgin Islands. The Foundation describes itself as independent from the co-founders, though this independence has been disputed by some DAO delegates.
The 1inch DAO governs protocol parameters through 1INCH-holder voting under a multi-stage 1inch Improvement Proposal (1IP) process, including a five-day poll requiring majority approval to advance.
Full "instant" voting participation requires staking 1INCH. The 1inch Foundation and 1inch Labs retain significant operational control, including token-distribution decisions. A 2026 governance dispute, raised by delegates including Abdullah Umar, alleges the DAO functions as a decentralization "front," receiving only token allocations rather than a share of the ~$5.3M in annual protocol revenue, and is projected to deplete its treasury within roughly two years at current spending.
1inch's most significant 2026 release is "Aqua," a self-custodial shared-liquidity layer launched July 28, 2026, letting liquidity providers reuse wallet balances across positions without pool-locking. It went live across 13 EVM chains with an incentive program of 10M 1INCH from the Foundation plus 500k USDC from the DAO, distributed via Merkl with BNB Chain as first co-incentive partner.
On July 1, 2026, 1inch joined as a launch partner on Robinhood Chain, supporting swaps of Robinhood Stock Tokens. On September 2, 2026, KuCoin Web3 Wallet integrated 1inch's intent-based swap infrastructure.
1inch holds a CertiK security score of 92.45 (AA), based on four audits. The most recent audit (November 25, 2021) covered the Limit Order Protocol, Exchange Aggregation Protocol v3, Mooniswap v2, and Exchange contracts, finding no critical issues among 11 total findings, with six resolved and five acknowledged.
Two third-party Fusion resolver exploits, attributed to the same attacker, drained over $5M in March 2025 (mostly recovered via negotiation) and approximately $6.7M in May 2026; both involved integrated resolver infrastructure rather than the core token contract. Top 10 holders control 59% of token supply.
