1inch's Aqua: Finally, One Wallet to Quote Them All 💧

Decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch has opened Aqua, its shared liquidity protocol, to all users across 13 EVM-compatible blockchains including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain and Robinhood Chain. Aqua operates as an onchain registry rather than a pooled contract: liquidity providers authorize a token balance in their own wallet, and that balance can back multiple position strategies simultaneously, with tokens only moving when a swap settles atomically. According to 1inch, the design lets a single wallet inventory advertise against several markets while keeping self-custody intact.

The protocol illustrates the mechanic with a $10,000 balance backing three positions that collectively quote $30,000, though no more than $10,000 can trade at any one time because nothing is borrowed and swaps revert if they would exceed the wallet's actual holdings. Every fill on Aqua is executed by a "verified counterparty," which 1inch defines as "a market maker or arbitrage bot that has been verified," with the check "enforced on-chain at swap time." A 1inch spokesperson told Cointelegraph that Aqua access is restricted to resolvers holding a 1inch-issued access credential, and that all positions are quoted against the market maker's live wallet balance, so after a fill the remaining position quotes against what is left. "If a swap would exceed the actual balance, it reverts atomically," they said.

1inch said Aqua has completed eight independent audits conducted by firms including OpenZeppelin, Nethermind, Hexens and Bailsec. The company added that the product is intended for "experienced users," noting that fees are not guaranteed, prices can move against a position, and providers carry market and smart contract risk.

Incentives tied to the launch include 500,000 USDC from the 1inch DAO and 10 million 1INCH (worth roughly $825 at the time of writing) from the 1inch Foundation, distributed through Merkl, pending tokenholder vote approval. "The initiative is designed to accelerate liquidity growth and swap activity across supported pairs," according to 1inch's announcement. The release comes shortly after a statement earlier this month from 1inch co-founder Anton Bukov, who said he was "fired" from 1inch in November 2025 after "push[ing] for change" in the company's management and operations.