1inch launches Aqua shared liquidity layer across 13 EVM chains with 10M token incentive
NEW YORK, July 28. A 10 million 1INCH token incentive program accompanies the public debut of Aqua, 1inch's shared liquidity layer for decentralized finance, now live across 13 Ethereum-compatible chains, the company said. The system lets liquidity providers deposit assets once into a structure the protocol makes accessible across all supported networks simultaneously, with depositors retaining custody throughout.
Key takeaways
- 1inch publicly launched Aqua, its shared liquidity layer for DeFi, live across 13 Ethereum-compatible chains.
- The launch is accompanied by a 10 million 1INCH token incentive program to seed the new pools with deposits.
- Liquidity providers deposit assets once into a structure the protocol makes accessible across all 13 supported networks simultaneously.
- Depositors retain self-custody throughout, keeping assets in wallets they control without transferring ownership to a third party.
- Aqua extends 1inch's trade-aggregation approach one step earlier, to liquidity supply itself, to improve capital efficiency across chains.
NEW YORK, July 28. A 10 million 1INCH token incentive program accompanies the public debut of Aqua, 1inch's shared liquidity layer for decentralized finance, now live across 13 Ethereum-compatible chains, the company said. The system lets liquidity providers deposit assets once into a structure the protocol makes accessible across all supported networks simultaneously, with depositors retaining custody throughout.
How the shared layer works
Aqua pools deposited capital across protocols rather than isolating it by chain. In conventional DeFi pool designs, funds locked on one network sit largely dormant relative to order flow arriving from another. Aqua's shared architecture treats those deposits as a single accessible reserve, addressable from any of the 13 connected networks.
Providers retain self-custody throughout: assets remain in wallets the depositor controls, and the protocol routes access across chains without requiring a transfer of ownership to a third party. Self-custody removes the custodial risk that arises when a protocol takes possession of user funds.
1inch disclosed no breakdown of which specific chains are included in the 13-network deployment.
The incentive program
The 10 million 1INCH allocation is structured to seed the new pools with deposits. 1INCH is the protocol's native token and the unit through which rewards reach participants. 1inch provided no detail on distribution timeline, per-chain splits, or minimum deposit thresholds at launch.
The capital efficiency case
When liquidity is siloed by chain, the same asset pair can show meaningfully worse prices and higher slippage on one network than another, simply because supply is isolated. A shared layer addresses that by routing available capital from wherever it sits to wherever demand arrives. Providers avoid replicating positions across each network separately.
1inch has operated as a trade aggregator since its founding, routing orders across protocols to find better execution prices. Aqua applies that logic one step earlier, to liquidity supply itself. The company disclosed no target for total value locked or projected fee returns for providers.