Liquidity as Code: Inside 1inch’s Strategy (w/ co-founder Anton Bukov)

In this episode, we speak with Anton Bukov, co-founder of 1inch –
one of the most widely used DeFi aggregators.


Anton shares his journey from writing code on paper as a teenager
to building one of the most sophisticated smart contracts during
a hackathon with Vitalik Buterin, and how those early experiments
shaped his engineering mindset. He explains how aggregation works
in decentralized exchanges, why routing liquidity is an
optimization problem, and how 1inch protects users even when
integrated protocols are compromised.


We also cover the rise of decentralized exchanges versus
centralized ones, how institutions are beginning to adopt DeFi,
and the role of stablecoins in settlements. Anton gives a look at
1inch’s broader strategy – from its wallet and payment card to
institutional integrations – and outlines where he sees DeFi
heading over the next 12 to 24 months.


Building something exciting & want to come on the
show or collaborate with us? 


Email us at  business@teachmedefi.de or DM us on
X:


https://www.twitter.com/teachmedefi


Please share this if you learned something! What should
we discuss next? Comment! 


Fed up with crypto influencers? Follow us for quality
education.


▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


Guest Links / Additional Material:


Learn more about Glacier Drop: https://www.midnight.gd/


Midnight Website: https://midnight.network/  


▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


Find us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@teachmedefi


Find us on  𝕏: https://x.com/TEACHMEDEFI


Find us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/TEACHMEDEFI


Find us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@teachmedefi_official


Find us on Podcast Streaming Sites:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teachmedefi


▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


Timestamps:


00:00 – Intro and Anton’s early coding journey


03:18 – Writing his first smart contract at a hackathon with
Vitalik


06:33 – Outsourcing computation and early crypto experiments


09:53 – From hackathons to DeFi: the path to 1inch


13:36 – Thoughts on AI and coding productivity


23:57 – How DEX aggregation works


26:50 – Evolution of DEXs and liquidity competition


29:20 – Why aggregators helped many projects survive


32:05 – DEXs vs. centralized exchanges


33:48 – Adoption timeline and user behavior


38:50 – Routing trades and optimization challenges


41:29 – Bringing DeFi to the masses: wallet, card, multi-chain


43:38 – Institutions and DeFi adoption


46:45 – Are institutions really coming this time?


48:44 – Stablecoins and settlement use cases


50:24 – Institutional use cases 1inch is working on


51:12 – What’s next for 1inch in the next 12–24 months


53:16 – Competitors: Uniswap, other aggregators, and CEXs


55:44 – Closing thoughts and where to learn more


--------------


Disclaimer:


TEACHMEDEFI is a provider of entertainment and opinions. We are
neither a broker/dealer nor an investment advisor. This is not a
service for issuing or receiving financial or investment advice.
None of our content constitutes a recommendation – or should be
understood as such – to conduct transactions in securities,
cryptocurrencies, or crypto-assets, or to engage in any of the
investment strategies presented in our discussions or provided
content. We do not provide personalized recommendations or views
on whether a stock, cryptocurrency, crypto-asset, or investment
approach is suitable for the financial needs of a particular
individual.