ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this episode, we speak with Anton Bukov, co-founder of 1inch – one of the most widely used DeFi aggregators.
Anton shares his journey from writing code on paper as a teenager to building one of the most sophisticated smart contracts during a hackathon with Vitalik Buterin, and how those early experiments shaped his engineering mindset. He explains how aggregation works in decentralized exchanges, why routing liquidity is an optimization problem, and how 1inch protects users even when integrated protocols are compromised.
We also cover the rise of decentralized exchanges versus centralized ones, how institutions are beginning to adopt DeFi, and the role of stablecoins in settlements. Anton gives a look at 1inch’s broader strategy – from its wallet and payment card to institutional integrations – and outlines where he sees DeFi heading over the next 12 to 24 months.
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Guest Links / Additional Material:
Learn more about Glacier Drop: https://www.midnight.gd/
Midnight Website: https://midnight.network/
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Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro and Anton’s early coding journey
03:18 – Writing his first smart contract at a hackathon with Vitalik
06:33 – Outsourcing computation and early crypto experiments
09:53 – From hackathons to DeFi: the path to 1inch
13:36 – Thoughts on AI and coding productivity
23:57 – How DEX aggregation works
26:50 – Evolution of DEXs and liquidity competition
29:20 – Why aggregators helped many projects survive
32:05 – DEXs vs. centralized exchanges
33:48 – Adoption timeline and user behavior
38:50 – Routing trades and optimization challenges
41:29 – Bringing DeFi to the masses: wallet, card, multi-chain
43:38 – Institutions and DeFi adoption
46:45 – Are institutions really coming this time?
48:44 – Stablecoins and settlement use cases
50:24 – Institutional use cases 1inch is working on
51:12 – What’s next for 1inch in the next 12–24 months
53:16 – Competitors: Uniswap, other aggregators, and CEXs
55:44 – Closing thoughts and where to learn more
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Disclaimer:
TEACHMEDEFI is a provider of entertainment and opinions. We are neither a broker/dealer nor an investment advisor. This is not a service for issuing or receiving financial or investment advice. None of our content constitutes a recommendation – or should be understood as such – to conduct transactions in securities, cryptocurrencies, or crypto-assets, or to engage in any of the investment strategies presented in our discussions or provided content. We do not provide personalized recommendations or views on whether a stock, cryptocurrency, crypto-asset, or investment approach is suitable for the financial needs of a particular individual.
