The Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem 1inch has introduced Aqua, a new shared liquidity protocol designed to improve capital efficiency for liquidity providers. While a full public launch is planned for early 2026, the project has already granted Web3 developers early access to its core components.

A New Approach to Capital Efficiency

Aqua aims to solve a persistent challenge in DeFi where liquidity is often fragmented across different pools. The new protocol allows various trading and lending strategies to draw from a single, unified source of tokens. According to the 1inch team, this model eliminates the need for providers to split or lock their funds in multiple locations.

This unified approach is intended to create deeper liquidity, which allows smaller projects to support larger and more efficient transactions than would otherwise be possible. 1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz stated that Aqua empowers users to manage and optimize their liquidity on their own terms, building on the principles of the project’s original aggregation protocol from 2019.

Early Access for Developers

Although the user-facing frontend for Aqua isn’t scheduled for release until the first quarter of 2026, developers can begin building on the protocol immediately. The team has released the complete software development kit (SDK), libraries, and technical documentation to encourage early adoption and innovation.

The 1inch team is encouraging liquidity providers to explore building new strategies for Aqua, suggesting it presents a significant opportunity to develop more advanced and efficient systems within the DeFi space.