---
title: "1inch DAO (1INCH)"
url: "https://caper.network/wiki/daos/dexs/1inch-dao"
updated: 2026-09-10
license: CC-BY-4.0
license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
---

# 1inch DAO (1INCH)

| Organization | 1inch DAO |
| --- | --- |
| Type | DEX aggregator & intent-settlement protocol |
| Token | 1INCH (governance + staking) |
| Chains | Ethereum + 10+ EVM networks (Aggregation / Limit Order / Fusion) |
| Governance | [1inch.eth Snapshot](https://snapshot.org/#/1inch.eth), weighted by Unicorn Power |
| Founded | 2019 (ETHGlobal New York hackathon) |
| Status | 🟢 Active |
| Website | [1inch.com](https://1inch.com) |

## Overview

The **1inch Network** is a decentralized-exchange _aggregator_: rather than running a single [automated market maker](/wiki/daos/dexs), it routes each trade across many liquidity sources to find the best execution. Its [Aggregation Protocol](https://1inch.com/blog/post/1inch-token-pioneering-defi-governance-and-utility) (the Pathfinder routing algorithm), a gas-efficient Limit Order Protocol, and the intent-based **Fusion** mode are governed by the **1inch DAO** through the [1inch.eth Snapshot space](https://snapshot.org/#/1inch.eth). This makes 1inch a distinct archetype in the DAO directory: where [Uniswap](/wiki/daos/dexs/uniswap-dao), [Curve](/wiki/daos/dexs/curve-dao), and [Balancer](/wiki/daos/dexs/balancer-dao) govern the pools that _hold_ liquidity, 1inch governs the layer that _routes across_ them, closer in shape to intent/solver DAOs like [CoW DAO](/wiki/daos/dexs/cow-dao) and the Solana aggregator [Jupiter](/wiki/daos/dexs/jupiter).

## Origins: a 60-hour hackathon

1inch began at the [ETHGlobal New York hackathon in May 2019](https://gitcoin.co/case-studies/1inch-from-hackathon-to-decentralized-exchange-powerhouse), where [Sergej Kunz](https://1inch.com/blog/post/meet-1inch-team-sergej-kunz) (now CEO) and [Anton Bukov](https://1inch.com/blog/post/meet-1inch-team-anton-bukov-co-founder-and-cto) (now CTO) – competing as the "CryptoManiacs" team – built a working aggregator prototype over roughly 60 hours. The protocol has since routed [over $450 billion](https://1inch.com/blog/post/1inch-token-pioneering-defi-governance-and-utility) in cumulative volume across more than ten EVM networks.

## The 1INCH token

The [1INCH governance and utility token](https://1inch.com/blog/post/1inch-token-pioneering-defi-governance-and-utility) launched on **25 December 2020** with a maximum supply of **1.5 billion**. On **6 April 2022** the token's mint function was permanently burned, fixing the cap so no further 1INCH can ever be created. The token is distributed across community airdrops, liquidity incentives, the team, investors, and a long-term treasury.

## Unicorn Power: staking with decay

Raw 1INCH balances do not vote. To gain governance weight a holder deposits 1INCH into a time-locked staking contract and receives **st1INCH** and **Unicorn Power (UP)** – [the unit of influence in the 1inch DAO](https://1inch.com/blog/post/1inch-token-pioneering-defi-governance-and-utility). The UP granted scales with both the amount staked and the lock duration (up to two years), and it **decays over time** as the lock unwinds, so sustained influence requires an active, renewed commitment rather than a one-time purchase. On-chain governance parameters set a [proposal-submission threshold of 100,000 UP, a quorum of 10,000,000 UP, and a five-day voting window](https://1inch.com/blog/post/1inch-token-pioneering-defi-governance-and-utility) for standard proposals.

## Two independent delegations

1inch's most distinctive design is that Unicorn Power can be delegated down _two separate rails that operate independently_:

- **Governance delegation** – UP delegated to a [Snapshot delegate](https://snapshot.org/#/1inch.eth) who votes on protocol decisions on the holder's behalf, a form of [vote-lock](/wiki/daos/dexs/curve-dao) representation comparable to [vote-escrow](/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/voting/vote-escrow) systems.
- **Economic delegation** – the [same UP delegated to a Fusion resolver](https://1inch.com/blog/post/staking-1inch-and-delegating-unicorn-power-a-source-of-rewards-127183a578d9): professional market makers who settle [Fusion](https://help.1inch.com/en/articles/6796085-what-is-1inch-fusion-and-how-does-it-work) orders through gasless Dutch auctions. Resolvers compete for delegated UP, and stakers earn a share of the resolvers' arbitrage profits.

The split means the token doubles as a governance right _and_ a yield-bearing stake in the network's market-making layer – a holder can lend their voice to a delegate and their economic weight to a resolver at the same time.

## What the DAO controls

Through Snapshot votes weighted by Unicorn Power, 1INCH stakers hold direct authority over [network governance, the DAO treasury, and the parameters of the Fusion Mode Settlement Contract](https://1inch.com/blog/post/1inch-token-pioneering-defi-governance-and-utility) – the contract that clears resolver-settled trades. Treasury management and the calibration of Fusion's fee and auction parameters are therefore live governance questions rather than founder prerogatives.

## How Caper approaches this

1inch shows a deliberate split between _governance weight_ (Unicorn Power for voting) and _economic delegation_ (Unicorn Power lent to resolvers for yield), with influence that decays unless a holder keeps re-locking. [Caper](/wiki/foundations/what-is-a-caper) folds those into a single canonical number: a member's vote weight is `(t · v) / (V · T)` – their token holdings _t_ multiplied by _v_, the soulbound record their own participation mints – one per ranked ballot cast, and 0.01 per XRD of gross value on each leg of a trade – over the totals. Holdings are one factor, not the whole story, so a bag that has earned no record – a position transferred in rather than bought on the curve – cannot capture [control](/wiki/governance) at all. And where 1inch stakers must wait out a time-lock, Caper pairs weight with an [exit right](/wiki/markets): a member can always leave with the share their own weight has earned rather than being locked in to a decision they lost.