1inch Network has allocated 10 million 1INCH tokens plus 500,000 USDC to incentivize liquidity providers on its Aqua platform over a three-month period, according to an announcement posted on X.
The program splits the token allocation into two components: 5 million 1INCH in volume rewards and 5 million 1INCH in partner co-incentives. Liquidity providers earn swap fees on their positions plus a share of the campaign rewards based on trading volume they facilitate. The incentives distribute through Merkl, the rewards infrastructure platform, and cover liquidity positions across 13 EVM-compatible blockchains.
Aqua is 1inch's shared liquidity protocol, designed to aggregate fragmented liquidity across multiple chains and protocols. The public launch of the incentive program represents the first major capital deployment to bootstrap LP participation since the platform moved out of beta. 1inch DAO approved the 500,000 USDC addition to the token rewards.
The three-month window sets a defined commitment period for the incentive structure. 1inch has not announced renewal terms or stated whether additional capital will follow the initial allocation. The program requires LPs to maintain active positions and generate swap volume to maximize their share of rewards, tying payouts directly to platform usage rather than fixed yields.
Volume-based reward designs have become standard among liquidity protocols competing for provider capital. Uniswap's concentrated liquidity model and Curve's gauge system both tie incentive distribution to trading activity and liquidity depth. 1inch's approach consolidates these mechanics into a single three-month sprint to test demand for cross-chain liquidity aggregation.
The 10 million token commitment equals roughly 0.02 percent of 1INCH's total supply. 1inch Network's governance treasury has funded similar seasonal programs in previous years, though the scale of this allocation and its public launch on Aqua mark a renewed push to establish the platform as a destination for LP capital across fragmented chains.
