1inch co-founder Bukov says he was fired, launches Second Tier

Anton Bukov has confirmed his complete exit from 1inch, stating he was fired from the crypto exchange aggregator last year while simultaneously announcing a new project called Second Tier.

The departure, detailed in a Thursday post on X, concludes Bukov's more than seven-year tenure at the firm he co-founded in May 2019. However, the split has triggered a public dispute over the timeline and nature of his exit. Bukov claimed he was terminated in November 2025 after pushing for changes to the company's management and operations. 1inch issued a conflicting account, asserting that the co-founder "had not been actively involved in any associated organizations" since December 2025.

"I no longer take part in the company’s operations," Bukov said. "And, most importantly, I have no role in its product architecture or its security, and no oversight of either."

This separation creates an unusual corporate structure that institutional investors and market participants will likely monitor closely. Bukov stated he retains a 50% ownership stake in 1inch despite having zero operational influence, product input, or security oversight. In the decentralized finance sector, where smart contract vulnerabilities can lead to catastrophic capital losses, a disconnect between a majority equity holder and the protocol's security architecture is a significant governance red flag. It leaves a founder with immense theoretical voting power but no accountability for the system's technical integrity.

Control of 1inch now rests entirely with Sergej Kunz, the developer who co-founded the network with Bukov. Kunz moved quickly to reassure users and markets that the leadership transition would not impact the platform's core functions. "Bukov’s departure 'is not disrupting, will not disrupt, 1inch Network’s infrastructure or systems,'" Kunz said in a Thursday X post.

While Kunz's statement aims to stabilize the protocol's day-to-day operations, the contradictory public narratives from the two founders reveal underlying fractures in the company's leadership. For market professionals, the immediate technical risk appears contained as long as 1inch's routing infrastructure remains functional. However, the public nature of this split, combined with a passive 50% owner launching a separate venture, introduces lingering uncertainty over the long-term governance of one of the crypto market's most prominent trading aggregators.