What is 1inch?
1inch.exchange is a DEX aggregator with the best prices on the market.
They draw liquidity from their own liquidity pools as well as from Uniswap, Kyber Network, Balancer, Bancor, 0x protocol, and curve.fi to name a few. Currently the have 44 aggregated routes and growing.
The platform launched its governance token, 1INCH, in December 2020. The main way to earn 1INCH tokens is by providing liquidity to 1inch’s liquidity platform or by Staking 1INCH in the governance portal.
Video Interview
Q & A with the Team
One of the best ways to better get to know a project is to talk with that project’s founder. We took some time to interview Sergej Kunz, Co- Founder of 1inch in a Q & A format to let him showcase the amazing work happening with 1inch.exchange.
Q: What makes 1inch unique amongst all the other projects that exist within the DeFi/ staking industry?
A: Sergej Kunz: We run two powerful protocols – the 1inch Aggregation Protocol and the 1inch Liquidity Protocol, which enable users to instantly swap cryptocurrencies at the best rates and provide liquidity to the most lucrative pools, earning significant rewards. At the heart of the 1inch Aggregation Protocol is Pathfinder, a complex search algorithm for swapping routes that helps users to find the best trading paths within less than a second. There is also 1INCH, a governance and utility token with a staking functionality that offers users unique opportunities.
Q: The famous story is that 1inch was launched at a hackathon, do you plan on sponsoring any hackathons in the future to help expand 1inch platform development?
A: Sergej Kunz: True, the 1inch prototype was developed at the ETHGlobal hackathon in New York in May 2019. Moreover, the core 1inch team largely consists of people who met at various hackathons. At 1inch, we have always believed that hackathons present a vibrant, creative environment where breakthrough ideas are born and tested, and we regularly act as hackathon sponsors. Most recently, we sponsored tracks and awarded prizes at EtherPunk 2021 hackathon by ETHIndia and ETHDenver. And we’ll certainly continue to sponsor hackathon tracks.
Q: As 1inch’s co-founder, you have been extremely successful, what would you consider to be your previous accomplishments?
A: Sergej Kunz: I have more than a dozen years of experience in programming. I used to work as a senior developer at Commerce Connector, a Stuttgart-based product price aggregator, and at the communication agency Herzog, doing various coding work, from PHP to frontend and databases. Later, I worked for Mimacom consultancy, running projects for major customers, such as Bosch, Siemens and Porsche, and subsequently, had a full-time job at Porsche. I also hosted with 1inch future co-founder Anton Bukov, a popular Russian-language YoutTube channel, CryptoManiacs, focused on real-time security audits of smart contracts.
Q: What blockchain have you built your project/token on and why? Is there a need to build the platform on many different blockchains, and which ones are you prioritizing?
A: Sergej Kunz: As I mentioned above, the 1inch MVP was built at the ETHGlobal hackathon focused on the Ethereum blockchain. Needless to say, when it came to launching our own governance 1INCH token, we issued it on the Ethereum blockchain, too. The situation changed quite recently as in late February 2021, we expanded the 1inch Network to Binance Smart Chain.
Q: Are you concerned about the high gas fees on Ethereum, how should the community and its users overcome this issue?
A: Sergej Kunz: Of course, we are concerned about high gas fees on Ethereum, and besides recent expansion to BSC we’ve been trying to offer our users ways to optimize their gas fees long ago. One way to do that is by means of 1inch’s gas token, Chi, which is minted when the gas price is low and burnt when it is high. This enables 1inch users to save up to 40% in gas fees.
Q: With many interchain bridges like Solana’s Wormhole, Cosmos’ Stargate, and Polkadots Moonbeam, will you consider making the 1INCH ERC20 token even more inter-operable?
A: Sergej Kunz: Thanks to the BSC integration, our users can now easily switch between Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain. All features of the 1inch Liquidity Protocol, the 1inch Aggregation Protocol and all 1INCH staking features became available to BSC users. And our team is working on deploying 1INCH on more chains.
Q: Staking is becoming extremely popular within the entire crypto landscape, why do you feel it is important to offer a governance staking portal on 1inch?
A: Sergej Kunz: True, staking is a major element of the DeFi landscape these days, and we are eager to make sure that our users have access to all tools available in the industry. Therefore, in late 2020, the 1INCH token was launched, which enables users who stake it, as well as liquidity providers in 1inch Liquidity Protocol, to directly vote on major protocol parameters and collect governance rewards. Plus, 1INCH has a regular staking functionality that lets users collect staking rewards.
Q: Are there any exciting updates or announcements coming for 1inch?
A: Sergej Kunz: Right now, we can’t disclose any upcoming updates, but we invite everyone to subscribe to our official Twitter and stay tuned!
Q: Describe the main vision of 1inch.exchange and give us your goal for the project 1, 3, and 5 years into the future.
A: Sergej Kunz: The DeFi space is developing very rapidly, and it’s probably hard to set up goals for a specific timeframe. But what is clear at this point is that we want to offer users the most diverse range of DeFi services in a way that’s most lucrative and provides the best user experience. Our ultimate goal as a project is to become a genuine unicorn in the DeFi industry!
Q: Where is the best place for the community to interact with you?
A: Sergej Kunz: We always welcome feedback and comments from the community, as well as specific suggestions aimed at improving the quality of our services. Users can get in touch with us, using the channel that’s most convenient for them. We run a Medium blog – https://1inch-exchange.medium.com/, a Twitter account – https://twitter.com/1inchExchange, as well as channels on Discord – https://discord.gg/Xyxv2Yz, and Telegram – https://t.me/OneInchExchange.
Q: Why is Staking Rewards a good partner for your project?
A: Sergej Kunz: Staking Rewards is a major provider of data on staking and other crypto earning tools. In turn, we offer attractive staking and yield farming opportunities that your audience is likely to appreciate and take advantage of. We hope that collaboration with SR is set to bring 1inch more users and, therefore, more liquidity. As a result, new and existing 1inch users alike will benefit from higher rewards!
Conclusion
1inch is really unique considering the 1inch Aggregation Protocol and the 1inch Liquidity Protocol, they are providing a decentralized liquidity solution that simultaneously allows the users to take advantage of the best prices across numerous exchanges. 1inch is doing a great job of continuing to innovate as shown by their recent expansion to Binance Smart Chain. I am particularly excited for the utility of the 1INCH token’s governance use case. This is definitely a “Blue Chip” project that should continue to provide value for years to come!