Is 1inch Safe?
Risk Grade: B- (33/100)
1inch is rated as moderate risk — some novel mechanisms, generally well-understood.
Moderate risk — battle-tested aggregator with 15+ audits, but third-party routing and recent infrastructure incidents keep it from a higher grade
A swap aggregator that finds the best prices across dozens of decentralized exchanges, saving users money on every trade. It has raised $190M in funding with a $280M fully diluted valuation. Its B- grade reflects solid auditing and a strong track record, offset by a $5M exploit on deprecated code in March 2025 and a frontend supply chain attack in October 2024.
TVL
$3M
Mechanisms
7
Interactions
5
Value Grade
B-
Key Risks for 1inch Users
A $5M hack in March 2025 drained funds through an old, outdated version of the swap contract. The current contracts were unaffected but the deprecated code should have been decommissioned sooner.
Your trades get routed through other exchanges that 1inch doesn't control. If one of those exchanges gets hacked, your swap could be affected.
The Fusion+ cross-chain system relies on professional middlemen called resolvers who can abandon your trade mid-execution during a market crash, leaving you with failed transactions.
Top Risk Factors
- •March 2025 buffer overflow in deprecated Fusion v1 allowed $5M drain; October 2024 supply chain attack on Lottie Player library compromised frontend ($768K). Two separate incidents within 6 months indicate infrastructure security gaps.
- •DEX aggregation routes through third-party protocols whose security is outside 1inch's control, inheriting risks from every liquidity source in the routing path.
- •Fusion+ cross-chain intent execution depends on relayer availability; during volatile markets resolvers may abandon in-flight swaps, causing failed transactions.
How 1inch Compares to Peers
1inch ranks #55 of 111 DEX protocols (above-median). At a risk score of 33/100, it's in line with the sector average (34/100).
Adjacent peers: Uniswap V4 (B-, 32/100) is ranked just safer, and Beets (Beethoven X) (B-, 33/100) is ranked just riskier.
See the full DEX sector leaderboard or the 1inch vs Beets (Beethoven X) comparison.
Common Questions about 1inch
Plain-English answers based on 1inch's scores across Hindenrank's 8 risk dimensions. The highest-scoring (riskiest) dimension is Vitality Risk (6/10).
Has 1inch ever been hacked or exploited?
1inch has had some operational issues or moderate incidents in its history. The track record dimension scored 6/15 — not catastrophic, but enough to flag. Look at the specific events and whether they were addressed by the team before drawing conclusions.
How much money is at stake in 1inch?
1inch currently holds under $3M in user deposits — small enough that liquidity events could affect exits. Smaller TVL means individual depositors carry a larger share of any loss event, and it can be harder to exit a position quickly during stress.
What's the worst-case scenario for 1inch?
Hindenrank has identified specific collapse scenarios for 1inch. The most prominent: "Cross-Chain Resolver Abandonment Cascade". The trigger condition is ETH price drops 30%+ in under 4 hours while Fusion+ cross-chain swaps are in-flight, making resolved orders unprofitable across 3+ chains simultaneously. Reading through the full scenario list on the protocol page is the single best way to understand the actual failure modes — generic "smart contract risk" is rarely the thing that takes a protocol down.
Is 1inch regulated or insured?
1inch has low regulatory exposure on Hindenrank's framework (3/10). The protocol is structured in a way that minimizes counterparty and jurisdiction concentration, though regulatory risk in crypto can change rapidly. No DeFi protocol carries FDIC-style insurance — even with low regulatory risk, depositors are not protected in the way bank customers are.
What are the biggest red flags for 1inch?
Hindenrank's retail-focused risk audit flagged: A $5M hack in March 2025 drained funds through an old, outdated version of the swap contract. The current contracts were unaffected but the deprecated code should have been decommissioned sooner. Your trades get routed through other exchanges that 1inch doesn't control. If one of those exchanges gets hacked, your swap could be affected. The Fusion+ cross-chain system relies on professional middlemen called resolvers who can abandon your trade mid-execution during a market crash, leaving you with failed transactions.
Should beginners deposit into 1inch?
1inch is rated B-, which is acceptable for users who understand the protocol's mechanism. Beginners should read the full risk breakdown and only deposit after they can articulate the top three failure modes. If you cannot explain how the protocol works, do not deposit.
How does 1inch compare to safer DEX alternatives?
1inch is one protocol in Hindenrank's DEX coverage. The safest DEX protocols on the leaderboard tend to share three traits: a long incident-free track record, conservative mechanism design, and high-quality public documentation. Compare 1inch against the full DEX ranking before committing capital.
For the full 8-dimension score breakdown, the radar chart, and dependency graph, see the 1inch risk report.
Read the Full 1inch Risk Report
This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 1 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.
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