1inch: The DeFi Powerhouse Charging Ahead with $500 Billion Volume

Hold onto your hats, folks! 1inch, the DeFi giant, is blazing a trail through the crypto world with over $500 billion in trading volume, and they're not slowing down. In a candid chat at Paris Blockchain Week, 1inch spilled the beans on how they're using interoperability to shake up everything from real-world assets to your favorite cryptocurrencies, all while keeping it non-custodial!

DEX aggregators? They're the hot new thing in DeFi, and for good reason. These bad boys pull liquidity from multiple decentralized exchanges to give traders the best deal in town, slashing fees and slippage like it's nobody's business.

Get this: by February 2025, DEX aggregators were handling a whopping $2.03 billion in trades. The crypto world is buzzing about the potential for explosive growth in this sector.

1inch, founded by the dynamic duo Sergej Kunz and Anton Bukov back in 2019, is leading the charge. These Russian devs met at a hackathon and turned their passion for optimizing crypto trades into a DeFi powerhouse. Now, they're optimizing trades across 400+ liquidity sources on 12 blockchains, all without charging a dime in withdrawal or gas fees, thanks to their native Chi token.

Co-founder Sergej Kunz spilled the beans on how 1inch is leaping from DeFi into the wider crypto universe. They're all about giving users a seamless cross-chain experience that could give centralized exchanges a run for their money. Kunz is laser-focused on DeFi growth, backing big names like Bitcoin and Solana, improving user experience, and even harnessing AI to create a tech umbrella that'll supercharge 1inch.

"It's getting better and better. In a couple of years, we'll see a seamless experience like in centralized exchanges, but with the benefits of non-custody and atomic execution," Kunz declared over a Parisian cafe latte on April 16.

Now, let's talk about atomic execution. In the wild west of DeFi, it's the holy grail - a transaction that's all or nothing. With 1inch's new features, you can trade through multiple DEXs to snag the best price, and atomic execution ensures the whole swap happens as one unbreakable deal on the blockchain. No more worrying about partial trades or those pesky MEV bots trying to steal your lunch money!

As a DEX aggregator, 1inch (1INCH) is all about finding the best rates for your trades. Their smart contract-based system lets you swap tokens and set your desired price. Kunz broke it down: "We came to the idea that we have this intent-based protocol to just say what they want to get, and how it's going to be executed is the bread of market makers and market traders."

But they didn't stop there. 1inch has now become a cross-chain marketplace for all users, and they're not messing around.

The numbers don't lie: by February 2025, DEX aggregators were handling over $2.03 billion in trades, with a market cap of $2.5 billion for DEX aggregator coins in January. Big names like Jupiter, 1inch, and Cetus Protocol are leading the pack, but watch out - others are hot on their heels, especially if they can start trading securities on-chain.

To stay ahead of the game, Kunz launched Fusion+, an upgrade to 1inch's Swap Engine that's all about creating more efficient cross-chain swaps. It's got intent-based architecture and bridge-less tech to connect users to a ton more Web3 liquidity, all while protecting against front-running attacks like MEV. Since its beta launch last September, Fusion+ has already facilitated over $200 million in cross-chain trading volume, and integrations like ZKsync are making it even better.

But 1inch isn't just about DeFi. They're setting their sights on traditional finance, partnering with banks and other institutions to bring DeFi tech to the masses. Kunz is all about opening the floodgates for institutional adoption of crypto, but in a way that's true to DeFi's roots. "Self-custody is our value proposition, as well as atomic execution. We plan to expand to TradFi. From our point of view, TradFi needs to adapt for us," he declared.

Security is a big deal for 1inch, too. They're integrating anti-money laundering and know-your-customer procedures to keep things safe and sound, which could open the door to even more institutional interest. "We have a service that aggregates other security services who monitor all the wallets who funds, launder funds. And who move funds from central wallets, and we decline the interaction for APIs at 1inch lab for such wallets," Kunz explained.

Will 1inch venture into real-world asset tokenization?

Hang onto your seats, because 1inch is gearing up to shake up the world of real-world asset tokenization. Kunz sees it as the next big step in their expansion plans, predicting that in the next five to ten years, you'll be able to trade traditional stocks and securities on-chain, all while keeping them non-custodial and benefiting from atomic execution.

According to a recent report by Ripple and BCG, the market for asset tokenization could hit a mind-blowing $18.9 trillion by 2033. Right now, it's sitting at $600 billion, but experts are betting on on-chain, trade-able stocks as the future of fintech.

Kunz sees huge potential here, but he's worried about the lack of secondary markets for tokenized real-world assets. "There's no single place where you can wait for the best execution, and that's where 1inch comes in. That's what we're building. The potential is huge," he declared.