1inch co-founder Anton Bukov posted a long thread on X on July 17, announcing that he is stepping down from 1inch’s operations. He said that in November 2025 he had a falling out with 1inch over attempts to change the company’s management and operations, and that he was eventually “fired.” Bukov still retains his status as 1inch co-founder and 50% equity in the company.
What happened before and after Bukov was fired
According to Bukov’s long thread posted on X on July 17, 2026, he had been running 1inch’s operations for more than seven years. In November 2025, he pushed for management and operational reforms that led to disagreements with 1inch, and he was ultimately “fired.” After being fired, he did not leave immediately, but instead stayed behind to “quietly observe.” In his statement, he said: “I’m no longer involved in the company’s operations. Most importantly, I’m no longer involved in the design of the product architecture and security, and I’m not supervising either end.”
1inch’s official response published on X stated that Bukov has not been actively involved in any 1inch-related organizational work since December 2025. The discrepancy between the two accounts lies in the timing (November vs. December) and the initiative behind the departure, but both sides did not deny the fact that the co-founder had effectively stepped away from operations.
Retaining 50% equity and the new Second Tier project
In his statement, Bukov revealed that although he had stepped away from day-to-day operations at 1inch, he still retained his co-founder status and 50% equity. He said he had shifted his focus to the new project Second Tier, positioning it as “the next layer of on-chain finance,” and focusing on building the next layer of DeFi infrastructure; as of July 17, 2026, Second Tier’s specific product details have not been made public.
In his response on X, Sergej Kunz said that Bukov’s departure “will not interrupt the infrastructure and systems of the 1inch network,” and that he would continue to lead 1inch’s subsequent operations.
1inch’s founding background and Messari Q2 2025 report
1inch was founded in May 2019. It is one of the earliest routing aggregators in the DeFi space. Its core function is to split trades across multiple decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to help users find the best swap prices. After nearly seven years of development, key product milestones include:
Multi-chain expansion: expanding from the Ethereum mainnet to multiple EVM-compatible chains
Fusion trading model: an on-chain auction mechanism that improves slippage for large trades
Aqua shared liquidity protocol: aggregating resources of liquidity providers
According to Messari’s Q2 2025 report, 1inch’s DEX aggregation trading volume in the second quarter of 2025 at one point surpassed Uniswap, and user growth was clearly visible.
FAQ
When did Anton Bukov leave 1inch, and what was the reason?
According to Bukov’s statement on X dated July 17, 2026, he had a disagreement with 1inch in November 2025 over attempts to push management and operations reforms, and he was “fired.” 1inch’s official position is that he has not been actively involved in organizational work since December 2025.
What 1inch rights did Bukov retain after leaving?
Based on Bukov’s public statement, he still retains his status as 1inch co-founder and 50% equity in the company, and he has already launched the new project Second Tier, positioned as “the next layer of on-chain finance.” As of the date of the announcement, no further details have been disclosed.
Did Bukov’s departure affect 1inch’s operations?
According to another co-founder, Sergej Kunz, in his statement on X, Bukov’s departure “will not interrupt the infrastructure and systems of the 1inch network.” Kunz will continue to lead 1inch’s subsequent operations.
