CoW Swap surges to 26% market share, challenging 1inch for DEX aggregator dominance

The DEX aggregator landscape is changing as CoW Swap is emerging as a significant player, capturing 26% market share in January, more than doubling from 12% a year ago. This growth positions the protocol to potentially overtake 1inch as the leading DEX aggregator.

Monthly volume on the platform reached nearly $5 billion in January, down from December 2024's peak of $7.8 billion, but remains substantial relative to historical levels. Notable institutional activity includes World Liberty's $90 million swap of stablecoins for various tokens, including ETH, WBTC, LINK, ENA, and TRX, executed in systematic $470,000 blocks.

The protocol distinguishes itself through its unique Coincidence of Wants (CoW) mechanism, which matches traders directly when possible before routing to AMMs. This direct matching minimizes reliance on liquidity pools, thereby reducing slippage and transaction fees while bolstering protection against front-running and other MEV exploits.

Ethereum remains the dominant chain for CoW Swap activity with $3.8 billion monthly volume, while Base has emerged as a secondary hub with $1 billion in monthly transactions. Top traded assets concentrate around USD-denominated stablecoins, wrapped and native ETH, and wrapped BTC, indicating a focus on major asset pairs. Current data indicates that 50% of transactions execute above the expected slippage while 45% execute below it.

While CoW Swap has been showing signs of success, it's not the only one that has grown in recent months. Protocols like Kyber and Bebop have gained market share, suggesting growing trader preference for optimized routing solutions. The aggregator space is at its most diverse, with market leader 1inch down to 30% market share, suggesting new protocols are innovating and competing for the top spot.

As institutional traders and whale wallets return onchain, aggregator efficiency in handling large trades becomes crucial. The ability to manage slippage and provide competitive pricing for substantial positions may determine which aggregators capture market share going forward. Recent large-block trades demonstrate growing institutional comfort with DEX aggregators for significant position entries and exits.

This is an excerpt from The Block's Data & Insights newsletter. Dig into the numbers making up the industry's most thought-provoking trends.