Okay, so 1inch, that big decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator (it finds the best prices across different crypto trading spots), just landed on Solana. You know Solana, right? The one everyone talks about being super fast. Well, 1inch brought its whole setup there, including this thing called the Fusion protocol (a way to trade without paying gas fees upfront) and some tools for developers.
- 1inch has expanded to Solana, bringing its DEX aggregator and Fusion protocol to the fast-growing blockchain. This allows users to trade over a million different tokens on Solana.
- The integration utilizes intent-based trading, where users define their desired trade and professional traders compete to fulfill the order, aiming for the best price and protection against MEV.
- 1inch plans to enable cross-chain swaps between Solana and ten other networks, creating bridges between different crypto ecosystems and simplifying the process of moving tokens between chains.
This move means you can now swap over a million different tokens that live on Solana using 1inch. They’re using their own code and this idea called intent-based trading (basically, you say what you want to happen, and others figure out the best way to do it). It also helps protect you from something called MEV (Maximal Extractable Value), which is kind of like sneaky traders getting ahead of you in line to make a profit.
With this intent thing on Solana, you tell the system what trade you want to make, setting your own rules. Then, professional traders, sometimes called resolvers (they’re the ones who actually make the trades happen), compete to fill your order. They use a Dutch auction style (the price starts high and drops until someone takes the deal). The whole point is to get you the best price possible and avoid that annoying slip in price that can happen during big trades (that’s called price slippage).
It feels a bit like putting your desired trade out there like a little flag, and then watching the pros race to offer you the sweetest deal. It’s a neat way to try and make sure you’re not leaving money on the table, which, let’s be honest, is always the goal in crypto, isn’t it?
Solana has been pretty busy lately. Data from places like Dune Analytics and DefiLlama showed it was leading the pack in decentralized trading volume, how many transactions happened, and how many active users it had during the first three months of 2025. It was like the cool kid at the crypto party for a bit there.
Now, 1inch isn’t stopping with just being *on* Solana. They’ve got bigger plans. In the next few months, they want to make it so you can swap coins directly between Solana and ten other networks they support. Think of it as building bridges between different crypto islands. The idea is to connect all that activity and money flowing on Solana with the rest of the decentralized finance (DeFi) world.
Connecting different chains is a bit like trying to get different countries to use the same type of electrical plug. It sounds simple, but wow, there’s a lot that goes into it. But when it works, it makes everything just… easier. And in crypto, easier is almost always better.
Sergej Kunz, one of the guys who started 1inch, said this Solana hookup gets them closer to bringing all these separate chains together. It makes sense. The more places 1inch can look for the best price, the better it is for anyone using it.
1inch itself isn’t exactly new on the block. It started back in May 2019. It’s actually the second-biggest DEX aggregator out there, right behind Jupiter (another big one). They’ve been busy hopping onto other networks too. They showed up on Base (a network built by Coinbase) in August 2023 and on Optimism (a network that helps Ethereum run faster) way back in 2021.
Seeing them add Solana just shows they’re serious about being everywhere the action is. And right now, a lot of the action is certainly happening over on Solana’s fast lanes. It’s a smart move to follow where the users and the trading volume are headed.
This kind of cross-chain swapping they’re planning? That’s the really interesting bit for the future. Imagine wanting to swap a token on Solana for one on, say, Polygon, without needing a bunch of complicated steps or different wallets. That’s the dream, right? Just click and go.
It takes some serious technical muscle to pull off these connections smoothly and safely. It’s not just flipping a switch. It involves smart contracts (code that runs automatically on the blockchain) talking to each other across different networks. It’s a bit like teaching two different languages to understand each other perfectly.
Getting the best price when you trade crypto can sometimes feel like finding a needle in a haystack. You look at one exchange, then another, then another. Aggregators like 1inch try to do that searching for you, instantly. Adding Solana’s speed and liquidity (how easy it is to buy or sell something without changing its price much) into that mix could be a big plus.
So, 1inch is on Solana now, doing its thing, finding prices, protecting trades. And soon, they promise to let you jump between Solana and other chains more easily. It’s another step towards a world where maybe, just maybe, moving your crypto around feels a little less like navigating a maze built by mad scientists.
