Leading DEX aggregator 1inch has introduced a new DeFi feature: trustless cross-chain swaps between Solana and over 12 EVM networks, without relying on bridges or third-party messaging protocols.
Available across the 1inch dApp, wallet, and Fusion+ API, users can now move assets directly between Solana and all major EVM networks in a fully decentralized, secure, and seamless way with full MEV protection.
Bridgeless Solana cross-chain swaps
Until now, cross-chain interaction between Solana and EVM networks has typically required bridges or third-party messaging protocols such as Wormhole, Axelar, LayerZero, or Chainlink CCIP. While widely used, these systems have proven to be vulnerable, with bridge hacks one of the most damaging security risks in DeFi.
In February 2022, the Wormhole bridge, which connects Solana and Ethereum, was hacked, resulting in a loss of over $320 million. Attackers exploited a vulnerability in Wormhole’s signature verification process, enabling them to mint $120,000 worth of wrapped ETH on Solana without the required collateral on Ethereum. This drained funds from the protocol and exposed the risks inherent in traditional bridge-based cross-chain solutions.
1inch’s bridgeless Solana cross-chain swaps rewrite this model entirely. When the resolver accepts a price, an escrow is created on the source chain, securely locking the user’s funds. The resolver then creates a matching escrow on the destination chain, locking their own funds. 1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz told CryptoSlate:
“There is no bridge risk, because the funds remain in their respective chain-specific escrows, not in a shared pool, and no one can move them without the user’s secret. After a security check, the user shares this secret with the resolver to authorize withdrawal. If the secret is never shared, both escrows are canceled and funds are returned to their original owners.”
Under the hood: Fusion+ cross-chain
The technical foundation for this feature builds on 1inch Fusion+, the firm’s Dutch Auction settlement model. But as Kunz explained, getting it to work with Solana required rethinking the architecture:
“The biggest technical challenge was adapting our Fusion+ architecture, originally designed for EVM-to-EVM swaps, to work natively with Solana. Instead of relying on third-party messaging protocols or bridges, we combined 1inch’s Dutch Auction model with cryptographically linked, chain-specific escrow contracts and programs. This allows resolvers to settle cross-chain orders atomically and trustlessly, bypassing the traditional two-step bridge model and eliminating shared-pool risks.”
The process works as follows: A user signs a cross-chain swap order on the source chain. A resolver locks matching liquidity on the destination chain while the user’s funds are held in escrow on the source chain.
Only when a cryptographic secret is revealed can both escrows unlock atomically, ensuring no party can run off with funds. As Kunz explained, if the process fails, both escrows are cancelled and funds are returned.
Beyond eliminating bridge risk, Fusion+ cross-chain swaps help reduce fragmentation by allowing assets to stay in their native ecosystem while still being instantly swappable across chains. Kunz pointed out:
“Instead of splitting liquidity into bridge pools, resolvers use their own inventory to fulfill orders on the destination chain. This means Solana and EVM liquidity can serve each other without requiring re-wrapped tokens, creating more efficient markets and deeper effective liquidity across ecosystems.”
For Solana, this addresses one of its biggest historical hurdles: isolation from DeFi innovation and capital flows in EVM chains. Solana-native tokens can now be traded directly against Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, and others, without intermediaries, bringing new users, capital, and dApps to Solana while making the network a hub for traders, builders, and liquidity providers.
What’s next for 1inch
While today’s release covers Solana<>EVM swaps, the team has further ambitions. Kunz told CryptoSlate:
“We’re open to integrating more non-EVM networks in the future. At our recent hackathon, teams demoed implementations for Bitcoin, Sui, Aptos, and others. That showed us the strong demand for a broader multichain future where every asset can talk to every other without bridge risk.”
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