Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Editor's Note: During the Token 2049 event in Singapore, the established DeFi project 1inch launched a rebranding—replacing its unicorn logo and fully adopting a new image centered around "1". This is not just a "makeover," but also reveals that 1inch is focusing on branding and market efforts beyond technology. Odaily Planet Daily interviewed 1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz to gain insights into the thoughts, plans, and anecdotes behind 1inch's "brand unity," as well as discussing topics such as the team's "high trading success rate."
(Odaily Note: 1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz is a senior developer with nearly 20 years of experience. The project was originally born from a hackathon in New York in 2019; currently, the 1inch team has about 60 members spread across the globe.)
Odaily Planet Daily: What is the core purpose of 1inch's rebranding activity? How should we understand the "1" and "Unite" concepts in the new logo?
Sergej: The key point of the rebranding is to remove the "noise." Steve Jobs once said, "If you want to focus on creating great products, you need to stop doing unnecessary things." Updating the logo and other brand visuals is one such thing—making our brand image clearer and focusing our business goals on creating better products. Innovation and technological improvement have always been our pursuit.
Over the past year, we have started supporting the Solana ecosystem and achieved cross-chain exchanges from EVM chains to Solana, with plans to add the Bitcoin network in the future. We have been moving forward while also wanting to focus more on business development. A sufficiently direct and noise-free brand can better convey business information and value.
As for the logo, the previous unicorn image actually went through several changes; it was originally a cartoon-style unicorn. Now, the new logo has a more cyberpunk style. This simple, serious "1inch" graphic is easy to recognize and remember, conveying our serious attitude towards continuous innovation and execution. The color scheme includes only black and white, with clear and intuitive meaning. In fact, this logo was conceived and designed by our internal team at a software development location in Dubai, who came up with the first concept draft in just two weeks, and the logo itself underwent very few major changes (only about two to three modifications).
Additionally, I see the brand update more as a new way of defining products, similar to how Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone by simply replacing keyboard phones with a touchscreen. Now, our official website has a minimalist function, and the image materials use AI-generated clear content; the style is hard-edged with a direct feel, using right angles instead of softer rounded corners. We started the rebranding plan this spring, and just a few months later, we have finally completed all content and promotion.
Odaily Planet Daily: Under the new brand positioning, who are 1inch's institutional clients? Is there a global expansion plan?
Sergej: Currently, 1inch's goal is to become a key connection point between the TradFi and DeFi ecosystems. So we are actively expanding institutional partnerships. A recent important case is that Coinbase has started using our API to provide token exchange services for its customers; we are also collaborating on pilot projects with traditional commercial banks in Switzerland and other locations to facilitate direct cryptocurrency exchange transactions. Additionally, 1inch's commercial API partners include applications like MetaMask, Trust Wallet, OKX, and Coinbase's non-custodial wallets.
In terms of global market expansion, we are considering establishing a project office in Singapore, where the industry environment, sandbox mechanisms, and talent advantages are very significant. Hong Kong is also on our radar.
Odaily Planet Daily: What measures are in place to enhance trading efficiency and security for institutional clients?
Sergej: Currently, the demand from institutions and commercial clients like banks is to access Web 3 and mobilize on-chain liquidity. Previously, they typically used centralized exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase, which have relatively complex processes; however, by using 1inch's SDK or API, they can complete transactions with a single call, greatly simplifying and automating the highly complex workflows that institutions usually have. With the 1inch platform, they can complete asset exchanges and transaction executions within a block time. To enhance the experience for institutional users and facilitate product integration, 1inch has obtained international SOC II and ISO certifications to highlight that the platform meets enterprise-level standard requirements.
Regarding technical enhancements, cross-chain has always been a pain point in the DeFi space, especially for institutions needing to transfer assets between blockchains. Due to various security risks associated with cross-chain bridges, institutions have to consider more factors when transferring assets. Therefore, we have launched Atomic Cross-Chain Swaps technology and have applied for relevant patents. Simply put, this is a trustless technical solution applicable between EVM-compatible chains and ecosystems like Solana. The intent protocol is also a key step in enhancing user experience: users only need to sign an intent, such as "I want to sell ETH on the Ethereum chain and buy TRUMP tokens on Solana," to achieve their corresponding goals. In a multi-chain environment with dispersed liquidity, 1inch's technical solution offers greater operability and trading advantages.
Odaily Planet Daily: In the current competitive landscape of stablecoins, how does 1inch view the numerous emerging stablecoin projects? Will this impact 1inch's liquidity aggregation business and user growth?
Sergej: Yes, after arriving in Singapore, I feel like almost everyone is involved in stablecoin issuance. In fact, it has only been about three years since the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin Luna, which shows how forgetful the market can be. Of course, unlike algorithmic stablecoins, stablecoins with sufficient qualified collateral are relatively safe. So, although the market share of stablecoins is further fragmented, this is to some extent healthy competition. And competition is always good for ordinary users, such as providing more yield opportunities. For 1inch, more stablecoin projects have almost no impact because we aggregate everything—1inch accepts all compliant stablecoins.
Of course, to avoid money laundering and other illegal activities, we have a dedicated team responsible for on-chain monitoring to prevent malicious actors from using our API for illegal profit.
Odaily Planet Daily: Looking ahead, will 1inch introduce AI-driven smart routing tools to further reduce gas fees or optimize trading costs in a multi-chain environment?
Sergej: Currently, our routing algorithm is already excellent enough that we do not need to use AI-related technical solutions to optimize routing to save on gas fees.
In my view, the greater value of AI lies in serving as a user guide or educational assistant. For example, we could create an AI assistant that allows beginners or ordinary users to manage assets through voice control. Users could say something like, "1inch, open my asset homepage, I want to transfer my Ethereum chain assets to the Bitcoin network." Additionally, based on industry trends or asset management principles, AI could help users review their trading profits and losses and provide specific operational suggestions. For instance, AI could suggest that users diversify their holdings, such as moving from outperforming ETH to relatively undervalued BTC.
This AI agent service will make it easier for ordinary people to understand DeFi and trading. Because the current DeFi threshold is actually quite high and very complex for ordinary people, including many in traditional finance who do not understand DeFi. This is the value of AI; it can help users better navigate between traditional finance and crypto finance, finding suitable trading targets and asset allocations.
Odaily Planet Daily: Many people say that the 1inch team is very good at trading, always able to "buy low and sell high." Do you think that's true?
Sergej: In fact, our investment trading is handled by dedicated personnel. As for the specific operations, it is more of an art of portfolio management, known as rebalancing behavior. Of course, technology often plays an important role. We once sold ETH when its price was very high and exchanged it for stablecoins, simply by using our platform's technology, we sold an additional $200,000. Undoubtedly, this is a great validation of the effectiveness of our technology. In the crypto space, when your assets (like Bitcoin or Ethereum) have increased by 3 or 4 times, rebalancing helps sustain the company's business.
The logic behind this operation is simple: if an asset in your portfolio has increased significantly, you can convert part of it into an asset that has increased less (like Bitcoin), or convert it into stablecoins to lock in profits and avoid risks; then wait to buy more when the price drops. This is a common portfolio management strategy, not gambling or professional day trading.
Odaily Planet Daily: Is there anything else you would like to share with readers, such as personal thoughts or business plans?
Sergej: My parents are from Serbia and Russia, and when I was 12, they chose to immigrate to Germany, starting everything from scratch. They worked very hard, and this family background has made me understand many realities. Even now, many people still cannot access formal financial services, and some cannot even open a bank account.
The original intention of 1inch is to help these people change this situation. It is not about making money, but about providing people with what they truly need (i.e., financial services) based on technological improvements. Everyone needs an on-chain wallet, which is why we created a cryptocurrency wallet. For the first time, it allows users to have ownership of their assets, and you control your assets yourself; this is undoubtedly revolutionary.
I can even boldly predict that within the next 5 years, everyone will have a cryptocurrency wallet, and it will become a new standard configuration.
Interview Photo
About 1inch
The core goal of 1inch is to provide a highly simplified user interface for users to conduct cross-chain asset exchanges and asset trading. 1inch focuses on the most essential needs of users: exchanging assets at optimal execution prices. 1inch also offers corresponding Pro User features for professional users, similar to centralized exchange (CEX) pages that include trading charts and portfolio information, but its core remains non-custodial technology. Users do not need to trust 1inch or transfer funds to the platform; instead, they interact directly with the blockchain and smart contracts. Additionally, 1inch has opened its SaaS product 1inch Business for enterprise and institutional users, providing API integration for token exchanges and Web 3 RPC calls, helping businesses integrate Web 3 functionalities into their operations, thus saving significant product development and maintenance costs.
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