1inch has opened Aqua, its shared DeFi liquidity layer, to all users across 13 EVM chains, eight months after a developer-only release. Providers approve a wallet balance instead of depositing into a pool, and tokens move only when a swap fills. The 1inch Foundation is backing the launch with 10 million 1INCH in provider rewards.
1inch opened Aqua to all users on Tuesday, eight months after releasing the shared liquidity layer to developers only. The rollout covers 13 EVM chains, among them Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain and Robinhood Chain. A front end had originally been slated for the first quarter.
Aqua works as a registry, not a pool
According to Decrypt, Aqua is billed as "the foundation for scalable, capital-efficient DeFi" and works as a registry rather than a pool. A provider approves a token balance and creates positions that draw on it, and the tokens are never deposited into a contract; when a swap matches a position’s terms, the protocol pulls them and returns proceeds and fees atomically. Approvals are set per token and per chain, and can be revoked.
That structure lets one balance back several quotes at once. 1inch offers the example of a $100,000 balance supporting three positions that collectively quote $300,000, with nothing borrowed and a swap only able to execute against tokens actually in the wallet, so exposure is capped by holdings rather than by the positions’ combined size. Liquidity providers can also open and close positions without lock-ups.
Only verified counterparties can fill a swap
Every swap 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. But when Aqua reached developers in November, the company said anyone could interact with a position to execute a swap.
1inch calls Aqua the first risk-controlled liquidity venue and part of a shift toward risk-controlled and regulated DeFi. It also says each position’s single owner makes just-in-time fee skimming impossible, putting the cost of such attacks at up to 44% of provider fee income. Crypto Briefing reports that such fee-sniping is common in traditional automated market makers.
Foundation commits 10 million 1INCH to providers
The 1inch Foundation has committed 10 million 1INCH in provider rewards for the launch, with a further 500,000 USDC from the 1inch DAO, distributed through Merkl.
Aqua has been through eight independent audits, by firms including OpenZeppelin, Nethermind, Hexens and Bailsec. 1inch added the caveat that the product is built for experienced users, noting that fees are not guaranteed, prices can move against a position, and providers carry market and smart contract risk.
Sources: Decrypt, Crypto Briefing
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