1Inch launches Aqua: liquidity now streams from the same wallet on 13 chains 🐟

Decentralized exchange aggregator 1Inch (1INCH) unveiled Aqua, a protocol designed to unify liquidity across multiple decentralized finance (DeFi) markets without requiring liquidity providers to deposit assets into separate pools. According to Tuesday's announcement, Aqua enables providers to authorize multiple strategies against a single wallet inventory, with assets remaining in the wallet until a trade settles.

The protocol has been deployed on 13 blockchains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum (ARB), Base, Robinhood Chain and BNB Chain (BNB). Aqua combines a generalized onchain registry, wallet-backed automated market making strategies, atomic settlement and consumer-facing position management. A 1Inch spokesperson told Cointelegraph that Aqua can be used by resolvers holding a 1Inch-issued access credential, as not all protocols are supported, and explained that all positions are quoted against the market maker's live wallet balance. After a fill, the remaining position is quoted against what is left. "If a swap would exceed the actual balance, it reverts atomically," the spokesperson said.

The system allows liquidity to be advertised across venues simultaneously, though assets can only be used in one operation at a time. A user providing $10,000 of liquidity could advertise that amount on three protocols for a total advertised depth of $30,000, but only $10,000 of simultaneous trades could be processed with those funds.

Pending tokenholder approval, the protocol will allocate 500,000 USD Coin (USDC) to incentives for Aqua adoption alongside 10 million 1INCH, worth roughly $825 at the time of writing, according to 1inch. The initiative is designed to accelerate liquidity growth and swap activity across supported pairs.

The announcement follows a statement earlier this month from Anton Bukov, a co-founder of 1inch, who said he was fired from 1inch in November 2025 after pushing for change in the company's management and operations.