Leading decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregator 1inch Network announced a major upgrade — Fusion — around its 1inch Swap Engine. The Fusion upgrade aims to deliver cost-efficient, secure and profitable swaps for crypto investors. 

The Fusion mode in 1inch Swap Engine allows DeFi investors to place orders with a predecided price and time range without paying network fees. In addition, the upgrade includes network improvements such as updated staking contracts and tokenomics.

As a decentralized trading and matching system, the 1inch Swap Engine connects DeFi users and provides liquidity for crypto trades through professional market makers. Explaining the intent behind the Fusion upgrade, 1inch Network co-founder Sergej Kunz stated:

“Fusion makes swaps on 1inch dramatically more cost-efficient, as users won’t have to pay network fees, plus, an extra layer of security is added, protecting users from sandwich attacks.”

Going against the traditional centralized approach, 1inch’s latest upgrade allows investors to perform secure noncustodial swaps, which are executed in a totally permissionless and trustless way.

According to the announcement, 1inch offers limitless liquidity and uses a new type of decentralized order-matching approach based on the Dutch auction model, as shown below.

The Fusion mode allows users to exchange tokens on various decentralized exchanges (DEXs) without paying any network fees. The upgrade also allows users to choose the order execution time as per their unique requirements.

Moreover, the Fusion mode provides protection against the maximum extractable value (MEV), which refers to the maximum value that can be extracted from block production in excess of the standard block reward and gas fees.

Alongside the upgrade, 1inch launched the 1inch Resolver Incentive Program, which will help resolvers get a refund on the gas spent on filling users’ orders in Fusion mode until Dec. 31, 2022.

Related: 1inch releases new tool to protect traders against ‘sandwich attacks’

Security experts believe that bridge attacks will still pose a major challenge for the DeFi sector in 2023.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Theo Gauthier, founder and CEO of Toposware, pointed out that bridges have an “inherent vulnerability” because they rely on the security of the chains it connects to.

In this regard, one of the major technologies available is zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), which allow data to be verified and proven as accurate without revealing further information.