1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz said the decentralized exchange aggregator has handled about $809 billion in token swap volume since its launch in 2019, yet the company has not turned a profit. Kunz said the current size of the DeFi market is still too small to support large-scale revenue generation through value extraction, and that 1inch would rather keep building infrastructure than chase short-term profit.
He pointed to Aqua, 1inch’s newly launched shared liquidity protocol, as the company’s latest effort to address liquidity fragmentation in DeFi. A Dune study commissioned by 1inch found that in the first half of 2026, about 85% of concentrated liquidity on major decentralized trading platforms was underutilized. Of the $1.84 billion in liquidity tracked, roughly $1.6 billion was not being used efficiently, with an estimated $150 million in annual fee revenue going uncaptured.
According to Kunz, Aqua lets liquidity providers support multiple trading pairs directly from wallet balances instead of depositing assets into liquidity pools, while compliance-screened market makers handle trade settlement. The protocol drew about $25 million on its first day, alongside incentives of 10 million 1INCH tokens and 500,000 USDC.
Odaily reported that 1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz said the platform has processed about $809 billion in token swap volume since launching in 2019, but the company still has not become profitable.
Kunz said the current DeFi market is not yet large enough to support meaningful revenue at scale through value extraction. Rather than focus on short-term profit, 1inch is choosing to keep building infrastructure.
Aqua targets liquidity fragmentation
Kunz said 1inch is addressing DeFi liquidity fragmentation through Aqua, its newly launched shared liquidity protocol.
A study commissioned by 1inch and conducted by Dune found that in the first half of 2026, about 85% of concentrated liquidity on major decentralized trading platforms was in a low-utilization state. Of the $1.84 billion in liquidity tracked, around $1.6 billion was not being used efficiently, and about $150 million in annual fee revenue was estimated to be going uncaptured.
Aqua allows liquidity providers to support multiple trading pairs from wallet balances without depositing assets into liquidity pools. Trade settlement is handled by market makers that have passed compliance review.
On its first day, the protocol attracted about $25 million in capital, with incentives including 10 million 1INCH tokens and 500,000 USDC.
Infrastructure first, monetization later
1inch has already partnered with major platforms including Coinbase, and Robinhood has also named it as a partner for Robinhood Chain.
Kunz said 1inch would rather build out infrastructure first and look for commercialization opportunities later, once traditional finance and larger pools of capital enter the market.
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