1inch launches the shared liquidity protocol Aqua, enabling a single fund to support multiple DeFi liquidity positions
According to official news, the decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch has officially launched the shared liquidity protocol Aqua for all users. Aqua allows users to support multiple liquidity positions simultaneously with just a token balance, without the need to deposit assets into a liquidity pool. The assets remain in the user's wallet, and only when a transaction is actually executed does the protocol call the corresponding tokens from the wallet through a single atomic transaction to complete the settlement, returning the received tokens and fees to the wallet.1inch stated that this new model, known as "shared liquidity," is expected to address current issues in DeFi liquidity, such as long-term idle liquidity, low capital utilization, and asset custody risks. The protocol was opened to developers last November and is now officially launched for all users, supporting 13 EVM-compatible chains including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Robinhood Chain, and BNB Chain.1inch indicated that there are several structural issues with current DeFi liquidity. Although many protocols have a high total value locked (TVL), a large amount of liquidity remains in inactive price ranges for extended periods, failing to earn trading fee revenue while also bearing market volatility risks. Additionally, liquidity providers (LPs) typically need to split limited funds across different protocols, trading pairs, and price ranges, leading to decreased capital utilization. Furthermore, traditional models require users to deposit assets into liquidity pools, which not only loses other uses of the assets but also means relinquishing asset custody rights and facing risks such as JIT (Just-In-Time) liquidity bots seizing fees. Aqua enhances capital efficiency by registering wallet balances as a shared liquidity source, allowing the same asset to support multiple liquidity positions without transferring asset ownership; when the wallet balance is insufficient to cover a transaction, the protocol will not execute that transaction, thus keeping the user's actual risk always limited by the wallet holdings.