- >Best Crypto Exchanges
- >1Inch Decentralized Exchange Review
Review of 1inch Exchange (2024)
The growth of the cryptocurrency industry has led to the birth of many decentralized exchanges. These exchanges operate without a central authority and require users to do nothing more than connect their wallets and begin trading, while often providing rewards for those that provide liquidity to the platform.
1inch then takes all of these decentralized exchanges and aggregates them for you, meaning you get the best rate for your swap. Not only that, but 1inch charges no additional fees and is available across multiple blockchain networks, while also providing users the ability to further save on transaction costs with their CHI gas token.
If you are looking to swap your crypto, there may not be a better option than 1inch, and this review will tell you everything you need to know if you are interested in using it.
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1inch Overview
- Pathfinder API gives you the best rates for your swap
- Accessible through a mobile app for iOS and supports dozens of wallets
- Supports swaps on multiple chains including Ethereum, Binance and Polygon
- Users can stake 1Inch token to receive rewards and vote on future proposals
1inch Pros & Cons
Pros
Supports multiple blockchains
Available as mobile app
Best conversion rates (Pathfinder)
Works as DAO with proprietary 1inch Token
Cons
Can only fund with cryptocurrency
Not available to US
1inch Supported Wallets
1inch supports many digital wallets and hardware wallets as well. Here is a list of supported wallets:
- 1inch Wallet (iOS)
- Authereum
- Bitski
- Fortmatic
- Ledger: set up as new device, Ledger Live desktop, Ledger Live mobile.
- MetaMask: here is the guide on how to get started with MetaMask on 1inch
- MEW: here is the getting started guide for MEW on 1inch
- Portis, follow this guide to get started with Portis on 1inch
- Torus
- Trezor
- WalletConnect, here is the full list of wallets that can be connected via WalletConnect
- WalletLink
How to Connect Your Wallet to 1inch
It is extremely easy to connect your wallet to 1inch following these steps:
- Visit app.1inch.io
- Click “Connect Wallet” in the top right of the page
- Accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
- Choose your network (Ethereum, Binance, Polygon, or Optimism)
- Choose your Wallet
- Verify through your wallet that you want to connect to 1inch
- Done! You can now begin swapping on 1inch
What You Can Buy on 1inch
Because 1inch is a decentralized exchange on both the Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum Network, you can essentially buy and ERC-20 or BEP-20 token or coin, including but not limited to:
Best Features of 1inch
Pathfinder is how 1inch is able to find you the best trading path across multiple markets, while taking gas fees into account.
It is an aggregation information service from the 1inch network, an API that is a cutting-edge discovery and routing algorithm. Combined with no extra fees, Pathfinder makes 1inch a fantastic exchange to use no matter what you are trying to swap. It operates on both the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks, and supports the Chi Gastoken, which we will discuss in a moment.
Chi Gastoken
The Chi Gastoken is an ERC20-standard token that is meant to be used on 1inch exchange to pay transaction costs. The idea is similar to the GasToken token on Ethereum, but it has some improvements. Chi is pegged to the Ethereum network’s gas price. When the gas price is low, the price of Chi is also low, and vice versa. Just like GasToken, Chi is tokenized gas on the Ethereum network. The only difference is that Chi is used on 1inch and Curve, while GasToken is used across the entire Ethereum network.
Users can mint CHI on 1inch at any time and then use the tokens to pay for their transaction fees when they see fit. Ideally a user mints CHI when GWEI on Ethereum is low, and then use it to pay for transactions when GWEI is high, essentially paying less for their transaction. For example, you can mint CHI when GWEI price is 20, and then use it when GWEI price is 40, meaning your fees are half as much as if you did not use CHI. For more information on CHI, check out this article.
DAO
The 1inch token (1inch) opens up a great future feature of 1inch which is their goal to become a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Once implemented the DAO governs the network parameters, enabling 1inch holders to vote for key protocol parameters and collect governance rewards.
Users can stake their 1inch tokens to receive governance rewards and there are no minimum holdings required in order to vote on proposals, so whether you have only 1 1inch token or 1000, you can still vote on proposals.
Is 1inch Safe?
1inch is extremely safe because it operates as a decentralized exchange, meaning it does not hold any user’s funds directly on the platform and that everything is done via smart contracts.
The 1inch smart contracts have been audited by OpenZeppelin, Consensys diligence, SlowMist, Haechi Labs, Coinfabrik, Certik, Hacken, Scott Bigelow, Mix Bytes and Chainsulting. All the audits can be found on 1inch’s github.
What are 1inch Fees Like?
1inch charges no fees for their services. This refers to on-top fees, as you do have to pay whatever fees are required to make the swap, meaning that if you use 1inch and the swap routes through Uniswap, you have to pay the fees that Uniswap charges, but nothing additional.
If it gets routed through two exchanges, then you would have to pay the proportionate amount of fees that both of those exchanges charge.
Frequently Asked Questions About 1inch
The 1inch token enables protocol governance, allowing 1inch stakers to vote for and receive rewards. The token is applied in different capacities in the two existing protocols and will be used in the tokenomics of all new protocols released by the 1inch Network. 1inch is a multichain token, currently available on Ethereum and on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) over a bridge (no extra tokens were issued when adding the BSC compatibility).
You can buy 1inch on top centralized exchanges such as Binance, KuCoin, Coinbase, Kraken, Bittrex, OKEx, and Crypto.com Exchange along with decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap, PancakeSwap, SushiSwap, and of course on 1inch.
1inch makes money in two ways, they receive affiliates from other decentralized exchanges as a cashback of DEX fees, and they also keep a small portion of positive slippage, while the remainder goes to users as a governance reward.
No, technically 1inch is prohibited in the US, along with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Crimea Region, Cuba, Dem. Rep. Congo, Ecuador, Eritrea, Republic of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Mainland China, Mali, Burma (Myanmar), Namibia, Nepal, North Korea, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
Yes! It is easy to do a Over the Counter (OTC) trade with 1inch, you simply have to click the “lock” button when choosing your swap. Enabling OTC mode excludes all other liquidity sources apart from 1inch’s Private Market Makers (PMMs) and results in a maximum slippage of 0.1%.
No, because it is a decentralized exchange and network, 1inch does not hold custody of users’ funds. Each user signs every transaction within their own wallet and assumes total responsibility for any/all funds lost. This can be loss due to slippage, price impact, commissions, impermanent loss or external theft.
