1inch has opened Aqua, its shared DeFi liquidity layer, to all users, eight months after first releasing the product to developers only. The protocol went live on Tuesday across 13 EVM chains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain, and Robinhood Chain. A front end had originally been scheduled for the first quarter.
A registry model instead of a liquidity pool
1inch describes Aqua as “the foundation for scalable, capital-efficient DeFi.” The product works as a registry rather than a pool.
Under that structure, a liquidity provider approves a token balance and creates positions that draw on it. The tokens are not deposited into a contract. When a swap matches a position’s terms, the protocol pulls the assets and returns proceeds and fees in the same atomic flow. Approvals are set per token and per chain, and they can be revoked.
In a post on X, 1inch said liquidity providers can use Aqua to access more activity across more markets without letting tokens leave their wallets, framing the design as a mix of risk-controlled execution and full self-custody.
Swaps require a verified counterparty
1inch said every swap on Aqua is executed by a “verified counterparty.” The company defines that as “a market maker or arbitrage bot that has been verified,” with the check enforced on-chain at swap time.
The company calls Aqua the first risk-controlled liquidity venue and links it to a shift toward “risk-controlled and regulated DeFi.” When Aqua first reached developers in November, 1inch said anyone could interact with a position to execute a swap.
Single-owner positions target fee-skimming attacks
1inch also said the single-owner structure for each position makes just-in-time fee skimming impossible, and it put the cost of such attacks at up to 44% of provider fee income.
The company gave the example of a $100,000 balance supporting three positions that together quote $300,000. Nothing is borrowed, and a swap can only execute against tokens actually sitting in the wallet. That means exposure is limited by holdings, not by the combined notional size of the positions.
Launch incentives include 10 million 1INCH and 500,000 USDC
For the launch, the 1inch Foundation has committed 10 million 1INCH in provider rewards. The 1inch DAO is adding another 500,000 USDC, with distribution handled through Merkl.
Eight audits completed, with a warning for experienced users only
1inch said Aqua has gone through eight independent audits. The firms named include OpenZeppelin, Nethermind, Hexens, and Bailsec.
At the same time, the company said the product is built for “experienced users.” It warned that fees are not guaranteed, prices can move against a position, and providers remain exposed to market risk and smart contract risk.
At the time of the early access rollout, a 1inch spokesperson said Aqua has the potential to “transform how capital and yield strategies operate in DeFi,” while providing deeper liquidity across the industry and reducing fragmentation.