How Aqua works

Liquidity without deposits

In a classic pool you deposit tokens and they work only in that pool. On Aqua nothing is deposited: your tokens sit in your wallet and positions quote against that balance. Tokens move only at the moment a swap fills. If the balance is too low at fill time, the swap simply reverts.

Allowances, always revocable

The only permission you grant is a token allowance, set per token and per chain. It caps what a fill can move. Your real wallet balance is the binding limit. Revoking the allowance stops new fills instantly. Read the full security picture, revokes included.

Positions are verifiable configs

Every position is an immutable, hash-addressed config executed by the SwapVM engine. You can verify exactly what you commit to before signing, and close it in one transaction. Closing moves no tokens, because none were deposited. Read the full design in the Aqua white paper.

Who fills your liquidity

Across the 1inch Network, swaps that fill your liquidity are routed by 1inch Resolvers: market makers and arbitrage traders that complete the 1inch verification process. Read how verified counterparties work.

From ship to fill

1. 1

   You ship positions

   Configure pair, pricing and fee, then ship: one action signs and publishes your positions on-chain. Tokens stay where they are.

2. 2

   Routing discovers them

   1inch routing indexes your positions and includes them as a liquidity source whenever it prices a swap.

3. 3

   A verified counterparty fills

   When your price wins the route, a 1inch Resolver executes the swap against your position.

4. 4

   Tokens move atomically

   Both legs happen in one transaction: tokens leave your wallet and the counter tokens, fee included, arrive in the same moment.

The Aqua contracts never pool or hold tokens: they account for what each position makes available and check your real balance at fill time. Read how a fill executes on-chain in the resolver guide. See how this compares to AMM pools and RFQ systems.

13 chains

Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Gnosis, zkSync Era, Linea, Unichain, Sonic and Robinhood Chain

Engine

SwapVM, audited by OpenZeppelin, Bailsec, Hexens, Nethermind, Theori, Decurity, Hashlock and MixBytes

Custody

Self-custodial: tokens stay in your wallet until a swap fills