Registry Model, 13 Chains: How 1inch Aqua Tackles DeFi’s Fragmented Liquidity

1inch has moved its Aqua liquidity protocol from developer preview to full public release, covering 13 EVM-compatible networks simultaneously, a scope that puts it in direct contact with most of the chains where professional market makers and retail liquidity providers already operate.

The launch addresses one of DeFi’s most persistent structural problems: capital that sits idle across fragmented pools on separate chains, earning suboptimal yields and forcing providers to manage positions across incompatible interfaces.Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your PortfolioHow Aqua’s Registry Model Differs from Standard AMMsAqua does not use conventional pool deposits.

Instead, it operates on a registry-based allowance model: a liquidity provider registers a wallet balance as backing, and that balance can support multiple simultaneous quoted positions without the assets leaving custody.

A swap executes only when it matches the position’s stated terms, at which point the protocol pulls the required assets directly from the provider’s wallet.