DeFi aggregators are moving to 'intent-based' trading, and we have a clear winner

4 weeks ago 23

Mehab Qureshi

Fri, July 31, 2026 astatine 11:09 AM CDT 4 min read

Key Points

Trading measurement crossed decentralized-exchange aggregators fell astir 40% successful the archetypal 4th of 2026, according to DefiLlama and Messari data.
The marketplace is consolidating, with antithetic aggregators ascendant connected antithetic chains: Jupiter connected Solana, KyberSwap and CowSwap connected Ethereum, and 1inch crossed chains by cumulative volume.
Trading is shifting toward "intent-based" execution; 1inch's Fusion strategy fell acold little than its older protocol during the downturn.

Decentralized-exchange aggregators, the tools that way on-chain trades to the champion disposable terms crossed dozens of venues, saw measurement autumn sharply this year, adjacent arsenic the marketplace consolidated astir a fistful of leaders and shifted toward a caller mode of executing trades.

Daily aggregator measurement dropped astir 40% quarter-over-quarter successful the archetypal 4th of 2026, from astir $4.6 cardinal to $2.7 billion, according to Messari and unrecorded information from DefiLlama.

Activity did not dispersed evenly. It concentrated, with each aggregator ascendant connected a antithetic chain.

Related: 1inch co-founder explains however to hole crypto's fragmented liquidity problem

1inch: the cumulative person

1inch is the largest DEX aggregator by cumulative volume, having processed hundreds of billions of dollars successful beingness swaps crossed astir a twelve chains portion drafting prices from much than 350 liquidity sources. It besides operates arsenic infrastructure for overmuch of the industry: its routing is built into wide utilized wallets including MetaMask, Ledger, Trust Wallet and Trezor, truthful galore users commercialized done 1inch without ever opening its app. It added Solana enactment successful 2025, extending its scope to 1 of the busiest trading chains.

The institution was besides aboriginal to the sector's biggest shift. It pioneered intent-based swaps with Fusion successful 2022 and extended them crossed chains with Fusion+ successful 2024 — the exemplary competitors are present adopting.

Its fastest-growing concern is tokenized real-world assets. Cumulative tokenized-stock measurement routed done 1inch crossed $2.5 cardinal by aboriginal March 2026, and the mean commercialized size astir doubled successful a azygous month, from astir $2,000 to $3,800 — a motion of larger, much organization orders. A concern with Ondo Finance helped propulsion regular progressive addresses up 45.9% and BNB Chain measurement up 52.7% quarter-over-quarter, according to Messari, adjacent arsenic wide measurement fell. Over the aforesaid period, the stock of trades 1inch settles done its ain autochthonal execution, alternatively than routing to extracurricular venues, roseate from 3.2% to 13.2%.

The main brushed spot was Ethereum, wherever 1inch's spot marketplace stock slipped from astir 25.2% astatine the extremity of 2025 to astir 17% successful the archetypal 4th of 2026 arsenic KyberSwap and CowSwap gained.

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