DeFi driving zkSync growth as 1inch deploys on Ethereum layer-2 scaling platform

April 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

1inch Network is the latest decentralized Finance protocol to deploy on Ethereum layer-2 scaling platform zkSync Era.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol 1inch has deployed its aggregation and limit order protocols on Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution zkSync Era to tap into faster and cheaper transactions.

1inch Network is the latest of a host of Ethereum-based platforms and services to deploy on the zero-knowledge proof (zk-proof) based scaling platform. Uniswap, SushiSwap, Maker and Curve Finance have also launched on the zk-proof roll-up zkSync Era.

1inch Network co-founder Sergej Kunz highlighted the promise of the layer-2 solution as his platform joins a handful of first-movers to integrate with the zk-proof powered protocol:

“As zkSync Era gains steam, 1inch users will benefit from faster and cheaper transactions.”

A statement from Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski, who heads up the zkSync development firm, notes that DeFi protocols have been a major factor in the uptake of zkSync era:

“DeFi has been a driving force behind zkSync Era’s explosive growth that has seen over $200 million in TVL driven to the protocol in just three short weeks, and we expect the deployment of 1inch to contribute to even greater adoption and usage of zkSync Era.”

Gluchowski said that 1inch Network’s position as the largest decentralized exchange aggregator by on-chain volume would provide deeper liquidity to zkSync Era. The deployment is also touted to offer faster trades, better rates and lower transaction slippage.

zkSync is among a number of layer-2 solutions that have pioneered the use of zk-rollups to increase Ethereum’s throughput and scalability. The technology enables layer-2 protocols to move computation and blockchain state storage offchain, allowing these platforms to process thousands of transactions before providing summary data proofs to Ethereum’s mainnet.

Matter Labs secured $200 million during a series-c investment round in November 2022, taking its total fundraising to over $450 million to continue the development of its Ethereum scaling platform.

Other major Ethereum development firms, including Polygon and ConsenSys, have also developed their own zk-proof powered scaling protocols. ConsenSys released its zkEVM rollup to its public testnet on March 28.

Meanwhile, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal described zk-rollups as “the holy grail of Ethereum scaling” upon the release of its open-source zkEVM Ethereum scaling technology to the mainnet on March 27.

Magazine: ZK-rollups are ‘the endgame’ for scaling blockchains: Polygon Miden founder

Coinkite Launches ‘Higher-End’ Coldcard Bitcoin Wallet With QR Code Scanner

February 9, 2023 Bitcoin.com

1inch Network Launches Hardware Wallet for Storing Users’ Private Keys in a Secure Offline Setting

January 19, 2023 Bitcoin.com

1inch plugs into KuCoin Wallet to improve token swaps

August 11, 2022 Coin Telegraph

1inch Network

1inch Network expands to another cryptocurrency exchange as KuCoin Wallet integrates its automated market maker functionality to improve token swaps.

Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin will introduce native token swap functionality to its in-house wallet after integrating decentralized finance (DeFi) market maker 1inch’s application programming interface.

1inch’s Pathfinder algorithm will increase the functionality of KuCoin Wallet, the exchange’s recently launched decentralized wallet platform, which features cross-chain trading, and DeFi and nonfungible token (NFT) support.

The algorithm will aggregate liquidity from over 250 sources from automated market makers and proactive market makers across the DeFi ecosystem. 1inch plugs into liquidity sources running on nine different blockchain networks, providing a wide range of tradable asset pairs.

The partnership will also afford KuCoin Wallet users access to 1inch’s Limit Order Protocol functionality. These orders are filled at a predetermined price once it is reached. This includes gasless limit orders for Ether (ETH), requests for quotations on the blockchain and other tokens that require permits rather than transaction approval.

KuCoin Wallet head Jeff Haul noted that 1inch has established itself as a leader in the DeFi aggregator space, and its functionality should improve KuCoin Wallet’s offering to its users:

“Swap is a high-frequency feature of the wallet, and 1inch is one of the most popular DEXs in the Web3 industry, so we’re working together through native integration to provide a smooth and cost-effective trading experience for our users.”

KuCoin rolled out its browser-based self-custodial wallet in June 2022 and hinted at imminent support for DeFi, NFTs and GameFi. The original NFT functionality was powered by KuCoin’s proprietary NFT marketplace Windvane.

The exchange earmarked a $150-million pre-Series B fundraising round in 2022 to bankroll the development of Web3, DeFi and NFT services and offerings within its ecosystem.

1inch continues to expand its footprint across the cryptocurrency ecosystem, sealing a pivotal partnership with South Korea’s burgeoning metaverse blockchain Klaytn in August 2022.

Korea Blockchain Week, Aug. 8: First-day takeaways from the Cointelegraph team

August 8, 2022 Coin Telegraph

1inch Network

The first day of the main stage event included a keynote presentation from Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin, 1inch Network's Sergej Kunz, and Klaytn Foundation's Sam Seo.

The fifth annual Korea Blockchain Week kicked off on Aug. 8, with more than 7,000 people attending Asia's largest blockchain event of 2022.

The Seoul-based event is set to run its main-stage sessions on Aug. 8 and 9, while side events such as music festivals and nonfungible token (NFT) art galleries will go through until Friday, Aug. 12.

This year Korea Blockchain Week features presentations from more than 120 figures in the blockchain space, including prominent names such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, Animoca Brands chair Yat Siu and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.

The event is hosted by FactBlock and Hashed (co-host) and is sponsored by Solana, Klaytn, and Wemade. Key focus topics will include decentralized finance, NFTs, gaming, the Metaverse, Web3 technology and crypto.

If you missed the action, here’s a literary highlight reel of all the most important moments from the first day of the event, brought to you by the Cointelegraph team currently on the ground in Seoul.

Vitalik: Layer-2 scaling will make crypto payments 'make sense' again

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has argued that crypto payments will once again “make sense” as transaction costs will soon fall to fractions of a cent due to layer-2 rollups.

He pointed to “solid work happening” with roll-ups at the moment, such as Optimism’s layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, which has worked to get the size and cost of data in blockchain transactions down by introducing zero byte compression.

“So today with roll-ups, transaction fees are generally somewhere between $0.25, sometimes $0.10, and in the future with roll-ups with all of the improvements to efficiency that I talked about. The transaction costs could go down to $0.05, or even maybe as low as $0.02. So much cheaper, much more affordable, and a complete game changer.”

Web2 adoption key to Metaverse success, says Klaytn Foundation direct

Sam Seo, the director of the metaverse and blockchain ecosystem Klaytn Foundation, thinks that the widespread adoption of the Metaverse will be “easier” if Web2 companies integrate the tech with their products and services.

Speaking with Cointelegraph during the Korea Blockchain Week (KBW), Seo suggested that Web3 Metaverse projects generally have issues attracting a mainstream audience, as people often have a hesitancy to use new technology from companies that they have never heard of.

“If new ideas are combined with Web2 platforms like [local social media app] Kakao, especially in South Korea, I mean, there's accessibility to these new ideas for new services that couldn't be easier than just starting from scratch.”

*Pictured: Klaytn Foundation director Sam Seo at Korea Blockchain Week 2022*

DeFi market has room for growth in Korea: 1inch co-founder

Decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregator 1inch Network has revealed plans to expand within the Asian market, according to its co-founder Sergej Kunz.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Kunz said that despite the DeFi market being relatively small in Korea and Asia, there are a number of Asia-based Web3 companies that 1inch is looking to partner with.

However, Kunz also added that the biggest barrier to entry appears to be a lack of understanding about DeFi and how to use crypto wallets:

“As soon as people understand that they can [yield] farm, they can swap, they can exchange and get easy access to cryptocurrencies on Ethereum with a few simple EVM-compatible networks, the market will grow a lot.”

Crypto.com hits key regulatory milestone in South Korea

Crypto exchange Crypto.com has announced a key regulatory milestone in South Korea after acquiring two local companies, giving it access to crypto and payments registration in the country.

The announcement came during Korea Blockchain Week 2022 after the company acquired payment service provider 'PnLink Co. Ltd.' and virtual asset service provider 'OK-BIT Co. Ltd.'

The move means they have now secured Electronic Financial Transaction Act and Virtual Asset Service Provider Registration in South Korea. However, the company did not disclose whether this means it can offer its full-suite of crypto trading services in the country.

1inch Moves Toward DAO Structure

November 17, 2021 The Crypto Briefing

‘In the next three to five years, the DeFi industry will grow massively,’ says 1inch Network co-founder Anton Bukov

November 9, 2021 Coin Telegraph

1inch Network

The co-founder of the world’s eighth-largest DEX by trading volume joined Cointelegraph Markets Pro users for an exclusive AMA on Monday.

It’s only been two years since its founding, but decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol 1inch Network has already surpassed $85.8 billion in cumulative trading volume. At a May 2019 hackathon in New York City, 1inch co-founders Anton Bukov and Sergej Kunz developed a prototype DEX aggregator that became the basis of the network. DEX aggregators are platforms that source liquidity from multiple DEXs, thereby providing better token swap rates with less slippage.

The network has a 57.40% market share in the DEX aggregator industry and well over 820,000 users. According to CoinMarketCap, 1inch Exchange is the eighth-largest DEX in the world, with a trading volume of $277 million in the past 24 hours.

On Monday, Bukov joined the Cointelegraph Markets Pro community for an exclusive ask-me-anything session over Discord.

Cointelegraph Markets Pro: Do you believe that DEXs will serve most crypto users, or will that segment be dominated by algos and bot trading?

Anton Bukov: I believe that in the next three to five years, the DeFi industry will grow massively. It’s already growing rapidly, but the advantages of peer-to-peer technologies can and will be more widely experienced.

Of course, in order for DEXes to dominate over CEXes [Centralized Exchanges], certain conditions have to be met in the future. DEXes and blockchain protocols have to perform 100 times faster than they do now. Users need to understand the core concept of the technology. User journeys have to shorten down and become friendlier for beginners.

The 1inch Network is a collection of strong and composable DeFi instruments, which together enable both veteran and new DeFi users to maximize the financial opportunity of Web3 with clean UX and secure contracts.

CT Markets Pro: What makes 1inch stand out from the crowd?

AB: 1inch is mission-driven to benefit the entire DeFi space. And we work hard and fast to achieve our mission. We aim to unite traders and liquidity providers, facilitating transactions that are profitable for both sides. The core functionality of 1inch is to aggregate data from various decentralized exchanges and to combine the best prices from all bids with the necessary liquidity. In April 2021, we released the 1inch iOS Wallet — a multichain mobile platform that provides an easy-to-navigate interface with secure storing, transaction, and staking capabilities. This versatile wallet was built from the ground up to streamline interacting with 1inch’s features.

CT Markets Pro User: As a DEX aggregator, are there any plans to mitigate the amount of fees that are currently on the entire network at the moment? What are the plans for the future on 1inch?

AB: For sure, recently 1inch Foundation established a program to refund gas spendings for 1inch users.

AB: High profits are usually correlated with high risks. Users deposit more coins; this lowers their profits for sure.

CT Markets Pro: The Binance exchange holds a large 1INCH stake, representing 44% of the governance votes. How does 1inc intend to overcome that?

AB: Binance is staking on behalf of their users; Binance never voted and not going to vote, AFAIK.

CT Markets Pro: How does 1inch solve the front-running bots?

AB: The 1inch Liquidity Protocol has a unique feature that helps protect users from these kinds of attacks, ensuring users get the most out of every trade. To discourage front-runners from attacks of this kind, the 1inch Liquidity Protocol has ‘virtual rates’ Actually; you can check this article for details.

CT Markets Pro: How hard will it be to migrate 1inch to Eth2? Will each liquidity provider be required to move their position?

AB: No one DeFi developer should wait or prepare for ETH 2.0. DeFi scaling will happen through L2; the sharded environment of ETH 2.0 makes no sense for DeFi.

I find ZK Rollups as a real scaling solution because ZK transaction verification complexity is fixed and does not depend on the complexity of the transaction itself. It sounds like magic, but it is like that ^^.

CT Markets Pro User: Any plans for multi-chain trades/transactions? Bridges, etc.

AB: I recently had an exciting twitter thread regarding cross-chain future of 1inch; please take a look:

1/ In recent months, I've been asked a lot about a cross-chain future for @1inch. Dozens of projects are actively working on bridges, and some of them have applied for 1inch grants or just asked for my advice/opinion. This thread reveals my thoughts on the subject. https://t.co/25Rgy5cYok
— Anton Bukov ⚖️ (@k06a) October 25, 2021

CT Markets Pro User: What do you think of Uniswap v3?

AB: They dramatically increase the capital efficiency of their pools. This is the ultimate solution for LPs (liquidity providers). But I see traders have really bad exchange rates and huge slippages on Uniswap. Going to make a DuneAnalytics dashboard about this. Using aggregators should be a no-brainer for everyone because 1inch integrated more than 80 sources on Ethereum mainnet only.

CT Markets Pro User: Other than 1inch. do you have any involvement with other projects?

AB: Do only advise/consult on some projects. But full-time working on next big thing at 1inch.

CT Markets Pro User: Building a DEX aggregator seems like an incredibly complex thing. Do you use a single oracle as a price feed, or is there another way price is calculated?

AB: We have our own off-chain oracle to fetch prices from the chain.

CT Markets Pro User: How has the explosion of gas fees affected trading on 1inch?

AB: You can set up a new phrase or enter only the address of your wallet to try it out in read-only mode. Since it is Wallet — it just can’t create transactions and produce signatures without a private key/seed phrase.

CT Markets Pro User: In what ways are you working with layer two solutions to make 1inch practical for smaller trades? Do you have a preferred tech? Sidechain, Optimistic, rollup, ZK rollup, something else I never heard of?

AB: I personally prefer ZK rollups, awaiting for ZKSync 2.0 from Matter Labs. But for sure 1inch will support or popular/major L2/sidechains which have: users/tokens/DEXes/activity.

CT Markets Pro User: With hardware, there are currently some solutions to connect to DEX by connecting Metamask to hardware then to DEX. Do you think we can get a direct connection to hardware without any middleware?

AB: You can use a hardware wallet over WalletConnect protocol, even on a mobile phone using the Ledger Live app. Check out our cool open-source dashboard.

CT Markets Pro: What are some of the recent innovations or exciting development surrounding the 1inch Network?

AB: We are working hard to deliver one more protocol soon, also building 1inch for institutions — 1inch Pro.

1inch Network