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New data reveals: in DeFi, over $500 mln, or nearly one third of tracked liquidity, sits fully idle.

Does DeFi have enough liquidity? Yes. Is that liquidity working efficiently? No.

Recent research by on-chain analytics platform Dune (commissioned by 1inch) suggests that 85% of concentrated liquidity on decentralized exchanges is underutilized at any given time. That’s about $1.6 bln of the $1.84 bln tracked.

And around $542 mln of that sits fully idle and out of range in an average week. 

This is a structural problem for DeFi. Liquidity pools have helped decentralized markets grow, but as tokenized assets and institutional capital move on-chain, the industry needs a more efficient mechanism.

How the research was conductedDune analyzed four major concentrated-liquidity venues:

Uniswap v3Uniswap v4PancakeSwap v3Aerodrome SlipstreamThe research covered seven networks: Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, Unichain, Polygon and Optimism.

Dune took weekly snapshots between January 6 and June 30, 2026. For each venue, researchers selected approximately 200 of the largest pools by trailing 30-day trading volume and kept that group fixed across the 26-week period.

This produced a panel of between 559 and 776 pools, with approximately $1.84 bln in average tracked capital.

Researchers also analyzed three constant-product venues - Uniswap v2, PancakeSwap v2 and Aerodrome’s basic pools - using the same methodology. These pools served as a baseline for assessing concentrated liquidity.

The scale of underutilized liquidityConcentrated liquidity lets liquidity providers choose specific price ranges in which their capital is available for trades.

The model can improve capital efficiency when the market price stays inside the selected range. But once the price moves outside that range, the position stops supporting trades and earning fees.

Across the 26 weeks covered by the research, an average of 29.5% of concentrated-liquidity capital was fully out of range.

The idle share generally remained between 25% and 35%, briefly rising to almost 41% in early February.

The cost to liquidity providers is significant. Dune estimates that out-of-range LPs forgo between $185 mln and $195 mln in fees annually.

The estimate was calculated by applying the blended in-range fee APR of approximately 40% over the period to the out-of-range TVL. The calculation used the fee tiers of Uniswap and PancakeSwap pools and bounded estimates for Aerodrome’s dynamic fees.

“Due to structural inefficiencies in DeFi, liquidity providers are leaving billions of dollars in underutilized capital and millions of dollars in fees on the table. If the industry is serious about bringing TradFi’s trillions on-chain, solving this needs to be priority number one,” said Sergej Kunz, 1inch co-founder. “Shared liquidity models and the advent of AI have the potential to create a far more efficient future for liquidity providers. That's why 1inch is set to launch Aqua, so LPs can maximize their capital and earn more from every dollar.”

"Decentralized exchanges have grown into one of the deepest, most liquid markets in crypto, and it is now competing with centralized exchanges and traditional trading venues,” added Filippo Armani, Research Lead at Dune. “What our research shows is that it has reached this scale even though much of its liquidity is not yet fully at work. It is easy to imagine what these venues will do as efficiency improves and institutional capital keeps arriving. Getting there depends on measuring liquidity precisely across every venue and chain, possibly real time, which is exactly the kind of on-chain visibility Dune has been building.”

Larger positions hold most idle capital

The research found that smaller positions were more likely to be out of range. Around 54% of positions worth less than $1,000 were idle, compared with approximately 26% of positions worth more than $1 mln.

But the largest positions still accounted for most of the idle capital.

Positions above $1 mln held approximately 47% of all idle liquidity, equivalent to roughly $260 mln. Positions worth more than $100,000 accounted for around 76%.

This suggests that underutilization is not limited to inexperienced or small-scale liquidity providers. Large, well-funded positions also drift outside their chosen ranges and stop earning fees.

Price direction matters more than volatilityThe research also examined why concentrated-liquidity positions move out of range.

The strongest factor was not volatility itself, but how far the market price moved in one direction over the week.

A highly volatile market can rise and fall before returning close to its starting point, leaving many positions in range. By contrast, a relatively calm but consistent price move can push large amounts of liquidity outside their selected ranges.

In other words, distance strands liquidity more reliably than short-term market turbulence.

No concentrated-liquidity design avoids the problemThe findings did not identify one protocol that consistently performed better across all markets.

When researchers compared the same trading pairs across different venues, the ranking changed from pair to pair. No single DEX was reliably more or less idle than the others.

Uniswap v4, despite being a newer architecture, recorded an idle share of around 30%, broadly in line with Uniswap v3.

Stablecoin pools also averaged around 30% idle liquidity.

Although stablecoins are designed to remain close in price, LPs often choose extremely narrow ranges only a few basis points wide. Even a small movement away from the peg can therefore push liquidity out of range.

Individually managed liquidity is more likely to sit idleMost out-of-range capital was held in individual wallets. On Uniswap v3, individually owned positions accounted for approximately 82% to 94% of idle capital across the networks where ownership could be attributed.

Capital managed by contracts, including active liquidity managers and market-making systems, stayed in range more consistently.

Incentives also helped. Aerodrome’s staked liquidity recorded the lowest idle rate in the study, at approximately 16%, because rewards are directed toward in-range capital.

However, incentives reduced the problem rather than eliminating it.

DeFi needs more efficient liquidityDeFi needs liquidity that remains available across changing market conditions. It needs models that reduce fragmentation, improve capital utilization and give LPs more opportunities to earn fees from the assets they already hold.

The next stage of DeFi will not be measured only by how much liquidity is deposited. It will be measured by how much of that liquidity is actually working.

Access liquidity across DeFi in the 1inch dApp.

Disclaimer: This report was commissioned by 1inch and prepared independently by Dune. The methodology, data collection, and analysis are Dune's own, and the findings represent Dune's independent conclusions. References to third-party protocols, including Uniswap, PancakeSwap, and Aerodrome, are made solely for research and informational purposes and do not imply any affiliation or endorsement. This report does not constitute financial advice.

1inch co-founder Anton Bukov says he has fully stepped away from the decentralized finance project’s operations after more than seven years and is now launching a new venture called Second Tier. 

Summary

Anton Bukov says 1inch fired him in November 2025 after he pushed for management changes. Bukov says he remains a co-founder and 50% shareholder but no longer oversees company operations. 1inch says Bukov stopped active involvement in December 2025 and insists its systems remain unaffected. Bukov said the company fired him in late November 2025 after he pushed for changes to management and operations.

However, 1inch gave a different account of his recent role. The company said Bukov had not been actively involved in organizations linked to the project since December 2025. Bukov said he remains a co-founder and 50% shareholder but no longer has operational authority.

Bukov says management push ended with his firing In a statement published on X, Bukov said feedback from users and colleagues led him to become more involved in leadership and company operations. He said he spent months working on his leadership and communication approach while trying to change how the organization operated. “In late November 2025 I was fired,” he said.

Bukov also drew a clear line between his ownership position and his current responsibilities. “I no longer take part in the company’s operations,” he said. 

He added that he has no role in product architecture or security and no oversight of either area. His statement leaves him as a shareholder and co-founder without a stated day-to-day management role.

1inch says operations and infrastructure remain unaffected 1inch responded on X by saying Bukov had not been actively involved in any associated organizations since December 2025. The statement presents a different timeline for his operational departure but does not change Bukov’s claim that the company dismissed him the previous month. The company has not publicly detailed the internal discussions that preceded the split.

We can confirm that Anton Bukov is no longer contributing to the 1inch project and has not been actively involved in any associated organizations since December 2025.

This does not affect the operation of 1inch Network or any associated organizations. The protocols,…

— 1inch (@1inch) July 16, 2026 Meanwhile, co-founder Sergej Kunz sought to reassure users about the project’s operations. He said Bukov’s departure “is not disrupting, will not disrupt, 1inch Network’s infrastructure or systems.” Kunz remains in charge as the protocol continues developing its trading and liquidity products.

Second Tier becomes Bukov’s next project Alongside his departure statement, Bukov announced Second Tier as his next venture. He said he is building the project with people who share the same values from the start. However, public information about its products, funding and launch schedule remains limited.

The move closes Bukov’s active operating role at a project he co-founded with Kunz in May 2019. During his time at 1inch, Bukov worked on protocol architecture and security, according to his account. The project later expanded from decentralized exchange aggregation into cross-chain trading tools and other DeFi infrastructure.

1inch continues expanding its DeFi products As previously reported by crypto.news, 1inch partnered with Rewardy Wallet in January to provide gasless cross-chain swaps across five blockchain networks through its Swap API. The integration formed part of 1inch’s broader effort to simplify decentralized trading while keeping users in control of their assets.

More recently, the leadership split comes after renewed attention on security across 1inch-linked infrastructure. In May, TrustedVolumes lost about $5.87 million after an attacker targeted its custom RFQ swap proxy. The incident did not affect a standard 1inch user swap route. 

Kunz later called for safer lending structures following separate stresses in DeFi markets. Bukov’s latest statement now makes clear that he no longer oversees 1inch product architecture or security, while the company maintains that its systems and ongoing operations remain unaffected by his departure.

Robinhood Chain brings tokenized real-world assets on-chain. 1inch makes them easier to trade.

What chain should you use to trade RWAs smoothly and efficiently? One answer is Robinhood Chain, an Arbitrum-based network specifically built for real-world asset trading. 1inch has integrated Robinhood Chain with a simple goal: make tokenized real-world assets easier to access, route and trade through 1inch.

“Robinhood Chain brings tokenized real-world assets on-chain,” says Sergej Kunz, 1inch co-founder. “Our role is to provide the infrastructure that makes them liquid and tradable. As one of the largest US retail crypto platforms enters the RWA market, efficient routing, deep liquidity and reliable execution become increasingly important. That’s what 1inch has spent years building.”

Bringing RWA swaps to 1inchRobinhood Chain is expected to become a high-visibility network for tokenized assets. For eligible users, this means a new network focused on real-world assets. Now, 1inch brings its routing and swap infrastructure to one of the most closely watched RWA ecosystems from the start.

As a launch partner on Robinhood Chain, 1inch supports RWA swaps on the 1inch dApp and in 1inch Wallet, helping eligible users access tokenized assets through a familiar DeFi flow. Beyond 1inch’s consumer apps, Robinhood Chain RWA swaps will also be accessible via the 1inch Swap API, available on 1inch Business alongside other APIs - enabling third-party apps and partners to integrate Robinhood Chain swaps directly.

No waiting for the bell. No fragmented manual routing. Just on-chain access through 1inch.

Why Robinhood Chain mattersRWAs are changing what can move on-chain.

Tokenized RWAs and other real-world assets can enable eligible users to gain exposure to more  traditional financial products. But tokenization alone is not enough. These assets also need liquidity, pricing and reliable execution.

That is where swap infrastructure matters.

If users need to move between venues, chains and interfaces just to trade an RWA, the experience remains too fragmented. Robinhood Chain can bring assets on-chain. 1inch can help make them tradable.

Built for 24/7 tokenized marketsThe product promise is clear: traditional markets close at 4 pm, but tokenized markets can move around the clock.

With Robinhood Chain integration, 1inch aims to let eligible users swap tokenized real-world assets anytime during the work week, from anywhere, using the execution quality 1inch is known for.

This matters because RWA liquidity can be fragmented across issuers, venues and market participants. 1inch routing helps eligible users access available liquidity more efficiently, also supporting intent-based execution where available.

For RWA traders, that means less manual route hunting and a simpler path to execution.

Supporting the Robinhood Chain ecosystemThe integration is not only about users.

Token issuers, liquidity providers and ecosystem partners also need infrastructure that can support early network growth. By integrating and supporting Robinhood Chain at its launch, 1inch can help create a smoother trading environment for the assets and partners building on the network.

This is how DeFi infrastructure scales: not through isolated products, but through connected systems.

Robinhood Chain brings RWAs on-chain. 1inch helps make them swappable.

The next phase of RWA tradingRWA markets are moving from issuance to usability.

The next question is not only which assets can be tokenized. It is whether eligible users can actually trade them easily, efficiently and securely across DeFi.

By supporting Robinhood Chain, 1inch is one of the first major routing and swap platforms available on the network. This strengthens 1inch’s role in RWA execution and gives eligible users a new way to access tokenized asset markets through the 1inch dApp and 1inch Wallet.

Swap on 1inch across networks, including Robinhood Chain.

Disclaimer 1:

This content is for general information purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any particular digital asset or to employ any specific investment strategy.

Disclaimer 2:

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