1Inch Launches Aqua Across 13 Chains With $825M Incentives Amidst Founder Exit

Woofun AI reports that 1Inch has introduced Aqua, a protocol designed to unify fragmented liquidity pools within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem through a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator framework. This architectural shift moves away from traditional pool deposits, instead allowing assets to remain in user wallets until trade settlement.

The system operates on 13 blockchains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum (ARB), Base, Robinhood Chain, and BNB Chain (BNB), deploying a generalized onchain registry alongside wallet-backed automated market making strategies. Tuesday’s launch enables atomic settlement and consumer-facing position management, ensuring that liquidity providers can authorize multiple strategies against a single wallet inventory without locking funds into specific protocols. This structure allows for flexible capital deployment while maintaining immediate access to assets.

Structurally, the model functions through coordinated overbooking, where a user providing $10,000 of liquidity can advertise $10,000 on three separate protocols for a total exposure of $30,000.

However, only $10,000 of simultaneous trades can execute against those funds, as assets are involved in only one operation at a time. A 1Inch spokesperson told Cointelegraph that access is restricted to resolvers holding a 1Inch-issued access credential, and positions are quoted against the market maker’s live wallet balance. "If a swap would exceed the actual balance, it reverts atomically," the spokesperson noted, highlighting the operational constraint that prevents double-spending.

Per Woofun AI, the protocol’s incentive structure includes 500,000 USD Coin (USDC) and 10 million 1INCH tokens, valued at roughly $825 at the time of writing, pending tokenholder vote approval. These resources are allocated to accelerate liquidity growth and swap activity across supported pairs, aiming to drive adoption of the new wallet-backed strategy model. The financial backing underscores the protocol’s intent to rapidly expand its footprint across the supported blockchain networks.

This technical expansion coincides with significant internal turbulence, following the November 2025 departure of co-founder Anton Bukov, who stated he was fired after pushing for changes in the company’s management and operations. The launch of Aqua thus represents a strategic pivot toward unified liquidity infrastructure amidst ongoing leadership restructuring. This marks a critical juncture for 1Inch as it seeks to stabilize its governance while advancing its technological roadmap.