1inch co-founder has announced his exit from the project

Co-founder of 1inch, Anton Bukov, has left the project after six years and is starting a new venture.

In a post on Thursday, Bukov said he was fired from the 1inch team in late November 2025, though he keeps his co-founder title and a 50% ownership stake.

The DEX aggregator confirmed the exit on X, saying, “Anton Bukov is no longer contributing to the 1inch project and has not been actively involved in any associated organizations since December 2025.”

We can confirm that Anton Bukov is no longer contributing to the 1inch project and has not been actively involved in any associated organizations since December 2025.

This does not affect the operation of 1inch Network or any associated organizations. The protocols,…

— 1inch (@1inch) July 16, 2026

Bukov leaves 1inch after 6 years

Bukov co-founded 1inch in May 2019, leading the protocol’s architecture, security, and economic design.

Not much was revealed about why the split happened. However, Bukov seems to have pushed for a leadership reform.

In his post, Bukov mentioned that he had received feedback from both teammates and users that made him want to contribute to the management and operational side of the company.

“I spent months learning how leadership and communication should be built, and pushed for change,” Bukov said. “In late November 2025 I was fired.”

1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz also posted on X to confirm the exit, “change is not disrupting, and will not disrupt, 1inch Network’s infrastructure or systems,” and also its strategic decision-making remains largely unchanged.

The company will continue to operate under Kunz and the existing executive leadership team, 1inch said.

Bukov moves to start a new project

In the same post, Bukov announced he’s starting a new DeFi project called Second Tier.

“I believe DeFi is the way to an open financial system, one with no friction and no middlemen,” Bukov said. “I’d rather build that than wait around for it.”

Bukov didn’t reveal exactly what Second Tier offers. However, he said it will close the distance between economic intent and its execution, and he’s building it with the “people who share the same values from day one.”

At the time of writing, the 1INCH token was down 1.6% on the 24hr timeframe, trading at a market price of $0.07394.