Centralized crypto exchanges may vanish in the next decade as decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregators rise, as predicted by 1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz.
During a Cointelegraph interview at Token2049 in Singapore, Kunz forecasted that exchanges would gradually evolve into frontends for decentralized exchanges (DEXs), estimating a timeframe of five to ten years.
Kunz emphasized that while centralized exchanges operate as isolated markets, 1inch and its aggregator serve as a global liquidity hub. His remarks coincided with 1inch’s announcement of a partnership with major US crypto exchange Coinbase, integrating its services to offer DEX trading to Coinbase users.
Kunz pointed out that centralized exchanges’ investments in on-chain systems reflect their realization that the technologies they depend on “won’t last forever due to the rise of decentralized exchanges and digital finance.”
“They want to stay relevant and ahead of the curve, adopting our technology, which we believe will empower the entire financial ecosystem,” he stated.
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1inch pivots to infrastructure provider
This report follows 1inch’s recent announcement about its shift to becoming a DeFi infrastructure provider, focusing on granting access to other businesses. The goal is to facilitate the uptake of non-custodial swaps by leading centralized exchanges and wallets, specifically citing Binance, Coinbase, Ledger, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet in the announcement.
Kunz revealed that the protocol has consolidated its products into a single application programming interface (API) for developers. He noted that most of the platform’s business now derives from API integrations rather than its own front end, a trend that has persisted for about a year.
Related: DeFi platform dYdX plans Telegram trading in roadmap update as earnings slide
1inch keeps betting on expansion
In August, 1inch introduced intent-based crosschain swaps to connect Solana and Ethereum virtual machine-based networks, ensuring maximum extractable value protection. In June, 1inch updated its price route discovery algorithm, claiming up to 6.5% improved swap rates.
About a year ago, 1inch also launched a feature that allows users to perform crosschain swaps while retaining self-custody of their assets.
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