Anton Bukov is a software developer and co-founder of 1inch, a DEX aggregator designed to optimize trades across various DEXes. ^[1]

Education

Bukov graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2011. ^[1]

Career

Bukov first encountered blockchain technology around 2014–2015 when he created a spatial arbitrage bot for an exchange. His interest in blockchain waned for a few years despite facing profitability challenges due to price differences between exchanges. ^[2]

His renewed interest in blockchain arose during a hackathon in Kazan in August 2017, where he delved into smart contract development. Bukov explored the field further, impressed by its code quality and efficiency focus. Collaborations with Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inch Network, led to the creation of the CryptoManiacs team, participating in hackathons, and connections with future 1inch team members. ^[2]

“While iOS attracted me by its developer experience, what captivated me in smart contract development was the high quality of code. Normally, when you develop a project, you never have time to perfect the code. Once you’ve written a piece of code, you don’t have a chance to come back and try to improve it. Basically, when you develop a product, your focus is on the product rather than on code. Conversely, when it comes to smart contracts, code is the king. Here, your main focus is on code, making sure it’s as efficient as possible. Moreover, once the code has been written, it is reviewed by auditors who could make suggestions for design and optimization.”

“At that time, many people in Russia had no idea on how smart contracts worked, and they were sure that smart contracts were totally secure and stealing users’ money was out of the question. They didn’t understand that if a smart contract’s source code wasn’t available, nothing could be guaranteed. So, we started approaching projects and requesting their source code for audits. Eventually, we uncovered various bugs and backdoors in the code.”

In May 2019, they developed an initial version of the 1inch protocol at a hackathon in New York. Despite minimal recognition at the event, they continued refining the solution, eventually transitioning to co-founding 1inch. Since May 2020, Bukov has dedicated his efforts to the project. ^[2]

“Some of the projects that we created at hackathons would still work today, if you try to use them. They were all self-sustainable dApps, containing a web frontend and a smart contract...Normally, we win several nominations, with prize money basically covering tickets and hotel. But at that one, we only won a minor, ridiculous prize.”

Interviews/Panels

LisCon 2021

At LisCon 2021, Harmony founder Stephen Tse interviewed Bukov about 1inch and smart contract development, starting with his background: ^[3]

“I've been a software developer for most of my life, coding for over 20 years out of my 32. In 2017, I made the switch to blockchain after participating in a hackathon. I highly recommend hackathons for anyone interested in diving deep into blockchain. They provide a unique opportunity to explore various aspects of blockchain technology and receive guidance from mentors and peers.”

He talked about his time at NEAR, a Layer 1 blockchain enabling the development of dApps: ^[3]

“Yeah, about 1.5 years ago, I reached out to NEAR because they were working on blockchain. I'm a smart contract developer and felt I could contribute, so I contacted them. They agreed to interview me, and it was quite challenging, as they had a lot of math tasks and algorithms. However, I passed successfully due to my strong educational background in this area. I enjoy algorithms; it's been a significant part of my life. After joining, I was tasked with building a bridge, although the name came later. It was challenging to create a fully decentralized, smart contract-based bridge, but we managed to build it. It was one of the first on-chain smart contract bridges to launch successfully.”

When asked about how the 1inch team approaches challenges in DeFi, Bukov responded: ^[3]

“We began as a hackathon team, participating in various global blockchain hackathons in 2019. We were fortunate to win the main stage prize twice. We thrive on challenges, and when we encountered the task of building a money market for arbitrary tokens with permission listing, we embraced it as the ultimate challenge. While we continue to enhance our existing protocols and prepare the next version of our aggregation protocol to be more efficient and agile, we're also dedicated to advancing the DeFi space as a whole.”

He also shared his thoughts on zero-knowledge proofs and rollups: ^[3]

“Initially, there was anticipation surrounding Optimistic Rollups and ZK Rollups, with ideas converging. However, there was skepticism regarding the timeline, as Optimistic Labs' launch was expected in Q1 of this year, yet it remains in testing phases. Conversely, ZK Rollups were deemed more promising but anticipated to require considerable development time for reliability. Surprisingly, there's now speculation about the simultaneous emergence of ZK Labs and Optimistic Relapse, offering reliable solutions concurrently.”

“Certainly, the functionality of Optimistic and ZK Rollups differs significantly. Optimistic Rollups operate by executing transactions on a side chain and providing a mechanism to prove errors on the mainnet through smart contracts. However, withdrawals entail a time delay to allow for error detection and reporting. On the other hand, ZK Rollups offer a concise execution and verification process, where correctness can be swiftly verified within milliseconds using CPU resources. Importantly, the validation complexity of proofs is unrelated to transaction complexity, distinguishing it from Optimistic Rollups.”

Liquidity Diversity

On April 29th, 2022, Bukov compared different liquidity sources at the ‘How to…DEX’ conference in Amsterdam 2022. He delved into the nuanced realm of liquidity diversity within decentralized finance (DeFi). He provided a structured approach for assessing different liquidity sources, considering variables such as liquidity type, operational environment (centralized exchange, layer 2 DEX), and security considerations. Bukov highlighted the rising significance of on-chain liquidity since 2017 and discussed the pivotal role of aggregators in facilitating liquidity flow across various platforms, including DEXes, centralized exchanges, and diverse blockchains. He emphasized the importance of ensuring atomic behavior in transactions and noted the competitive landscape among professional market makers (PMMs) to enhance liquidity access for users continually. Overall, Bukov's presentation shed light on the evolving dynamics of DeFi liquidity, aiming for accessibility, cost efficiency, and robust security. ^[4]

Financial Freedom

At Davos 2022, Bukov discussed the concept of financial freedom within DeFi, emphasizing its rapid technological evolution and the absence of strict regulation as key drivers. He discusses how regulated DeFi exists within the broader DeFi landscape, comprising core technologies such as decentralized exchanges, automated market makers, and money markets for collateralized borrowing. Bukov predicts the emergence of new, unprecedented core technologies in DeFi, envisioning a future where innovative solutions reshape traditional finance. ^[5]

DeFi Value Flows

At ETHDam 2024, Bukov highlighted the critical role of algorithms in DeFi protocols, emphasizing the need for constant or logarithmic complexity to accommodate the sector's limited computational capabilities. He categorized DeFi algorithms based on their scalability, asset type, direction, and timing. Bukov pointed out that while DeFi protocols are already equipped to handle millions of participants with constant gas costs, instant distribution algorithms remain vulnerable to front-running and sandwich attacks. Looking ahead, he discussed 1inch's exploration of cross-chain actions and signature-based protocols like Intents, emphasizing scalability and stability as key focuses for the future of DeFi. ^[6]