# 1inch Network Financial Model

DeFi aggregation protocol that routes crypto swaps across 100+ liquidity sources to deliver best rates and lowest gas fees.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/1inch-network
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/1inch-network.xlsx
- Category: Crypto/Web3
- Model type: Marketplace / GMV
- Funding round: Series B
- Funding: $175M
- Founded: 2021
- Geography: Global (multi-chain: Ethereum, BSC, Polygon); team appears distributed internationally.
- Customer: B2B2C

## About the company

1inch aggregates decentralised-exchange liquidity, splitting swaps across more than 100 sources to improve execution. Its product set also includes a wallet, limit-order protocol, liquidity protocol, DAO governance, and trading strategies. The protocol highlights MEV protection, partial fills, OTC mode, and lower price impact on large trades across Ethereum, BSC, and Polygon.

The deck reports more than $96 billion of Ethereum volume, $12.5 billion on BSC, and $7.5 billion on Polygon. Ethereum aggregation market share was 61.1%, with more than 910,000 users and 53% retention; 30-plus API integrations, including MetaMask, extend distribution.

Build a monthly, chain-level GMV model, not a subscription forecast. Apply a protocol fee of one to three basis points to aggregated volume, track market-share and new-chain assumptions, and optionally layer in token-holder and staking economics. Crypto-cycle volume, fee pressure, and share against Uniswap are the material sensitivities.

## What's included

- 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions
- Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule
- Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking
- Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check
- Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR
- Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention

## Product & value proposition

- Core product: 1inch Aggregation Protocol - scans multiple DEXs, splits trades across sources, delivers best on-chain swap rates.
- Secondary products: 1inch Wallet (DeFi super-app), Limit Order Protocol (limit orders + stop-losses), Liquidity Protocol (AMM), DAO governance, robo trading strategies.
- Key differentiators vs. competitors: lowest price impact on large trades (e.g. 1000 ETH swap: 0.26%/0.25% vs. Uniswap 1.49%/1.52%), MEV/front-running protection, partial fill, OTC mode, 100+ liquidity sources across 5 networks.
- Metamask integration: 1inch receives 50.65% of Metamask swap trades from 335K unique wallets.

## Revenue model

Not explicitly stated in deck. Based on standard 1inch protocol mechanics (verifiable from public docs, not stated in deck):
- Protocol swap fee: small basis-point fee on aggregated trades, captured by the protocol treasury / stakers.
- Liquidity protocol fees: AMM trading fees accruing to liquidity providers and protocol.
- No subscription, no SaaS pricing disclosed.

## Traction & metrics

All figures as of deck date (estimated late 2021, consistent with 2021-10-01 data in slide 6):

**Ethereum:**
- $96B+ Total USD Volume
- 910,000+ Total users with 53% retention rate
- 4,162,050 Total swaps
- Aggregation market share: 61.1%

**BSC (BNB Chain):**
- $12.5B+ Total USD Volume
- 318,793 Total users
- 2,804,579 Total swaps

**Polygon:**
- $7.5B+ Total USD Volume
- 122,645 Total users
- 2,937,881 Total swaps

**Token & ecosystem:**
- Token holders: 152,620
- 30+ API integrations (Metamask, Coinbase, Crypto.com, etc.)

**Competitive rank (trailing 7-day unique traders):**
- 1inch: 62,381 traders - #2 behind Uniswap (229,140), ahead of Sushiswap (31,033)

**Liquidity source volumes (single day, 2021-10-01):**
- 1inch Limit Order Protocol vRFQ v1: $109.6M
- 1inch Limit Order Protocol v1: $261.5M
- 1inch LP v1: $81K

## Competition / moat

- Direct competitors ranked by 7-day traders: Uniswap (#1), Sushiswap (#3), 0x API (#4), Paraswap (#5), Balancer (#6), Matcha (#7), Gnosis Protocol (#8).
- 1inch holds moat via: best price execution (demonstrated quantitatively in slide 5), 61.1% DEX aggregation market share on Ethereum, Metamask distribution (50.65% of Metamask swap flow), 30+ API integrations, and multi-chain presence.
- Investor/partner ecosystem: Pantera, Binance Labs, Dragonfly Capital, Galaxy Digital, Alameda Research, Blockchain Capital and 12+ others.
- 30+ ecosystem partners including Metamask, Coinbase Wallet, Trust Wallet, Chainlink, The Graph, Gnosis Safe.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

- Team slide (slide 7): portrait grid labeled "Thank you" - names not extractable from OCR or image.
- Investors listed (slide 9): Pantera, Binance Labs, Libertus Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Galaxy Digital, ParaFi Capital, Nima Capital, LaunchHub Ventures, Rockaway Blockchain Fund, Alameda Research, Blockchain Capital, Spartan, gumi Cryptos, Green Field, Spark, Fabric Ventures, ID 5G, Struck Capital.

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## Recommended financial model

- **Archetype + why:** Protocol GMV / fee-revenue model (DeFi aggregator variant). Revenue is a function of trading volume (GMV) × protocol fee rate. This is analogous to a marketplace take-rate model, but volume is crypto-market-cycle-sensitive. The model must also capture multi-chain volume (ETH, BSC, Polygon) and token-holder/staking dynamics if 1INCH fee distribution is in scope.

- **Forecast horizon & granularity:** Monthly, 3 years (2022–2024). Quarterly roll-up for investor output. Monthly granularity needed because crypto volumes are highly seasonal and cycle-dependent.

- **Key drivers & assumptions:**

| Driver | Seed value |
| -- | -- |
| Ethereum cumulative volume | $96B+ (lifetime to date) |
| ETH monthly volume run-rate | ~$8–10B/month implied from lifetime figure |
| BSC monthly volume run-rate | ~$1–1.5B/month implied |
| Polygon monthly volume run-rate | ~$0.7–1B/month implied |
| ETH aggregation market share | 61.1% |
| Protocol fee rate (bps) | 1–3 bps on aggregated volume |
| Monthly active users (Ethereum) | 910K+ cumulative; weekly active ~62K |
| User retention rate | 53% |
| New chain expansion | Additional chains post-Polygon (e.g. Arbitrum, Optimism) |
| Volume growth rate (MoM) | 5–15% in bull, 0–5% in base, -10% in bear |

- **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):**
  - **Bull:** Volume grows 15% MoM; market share holds at 60%+; 2 new chains added per year; fee rate sustains at 3 bps.
  - **Base:** Volume grows 5% MoM; market share drifts to 55% (competitive pressure from Uniswap); 1 new chain/year; fee rate 2 bps.
  - **Bear:** Crypto market downturn, volume -20% from peak; market share compresses to 45%; fee rate pressure to 1 bps.
  - Primary flex variables: monthly GMV volume, protocol fee rate (bps), market share %.

- **Required sheets / outputs:**
  1. **Assumptions** - all drivers with / tags, scenario toggles.
  2. **Volume Model** - monthly GMV by chain (ETH, BSC, Polygon, Other); total network GMV.
  3. **Revenue** - GMV × fee rate = protocol revenue; split by chain.
  4. **User / Wallet Model** - cumulative wallets, MAU, weekly active traders, retention waterfall.
  5. **P&L (simplified)** - Revenue, operating expenses (team, infrastructure, grants, marketing), EBITDA.
  6. **Token Economics** (optional) - 1INCH holder count, staking ratio, fee distribution.
  7. **KPI Dashboard** - GMV, revenue, users, market share, fee rate, swaps per user.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the 1inch Network financial model free?

Yes. The 1inch Network model is a free Excel download with live formulas.

### Can I change the assumptions?

Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.