Anton Bukov, co-founder of decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch, announced the launch of Second Tier, a DeFi infrastructure project, following his dismissal from 1inch in late November 2025. Bukov stated the venture focuses on building secure, efficient systems that close the distance between economic intent and its execution. The announcement comes after Bukov spent months pushing for changes to 1inch's leadership and communication structures, prompted by feedback from users and teammates, before being dismissed while retaining his 50% shareholding and co-founder status. The DeFi sector continues to evolve with new infrastructure projects aimed at reducing friction in programmable financial systems.
Second Tier Focuses on Protocol-Level Architectures and Open Systems
According to the project's website, Second Tier operates on the premise that friction in today's financial system—intermediaries, settlement delays, permission layers, opaque terms—is the product of deliberate design decisions rather than inherent properties of value movement. The project redesigns constraints by operating one level above them, with stated infrastructure that functions silently, universally, and without gatekeepers.
Second Tier builds a series of open, protocol-level architectures intended to create new categories in the programmable economy. The technical approach prioritizes solving problems at their root, building systems where economic intent translates directly into execution with no intermediary layer absorbing value or introducing delay.
The project is guided by four principles: user sovereignty over capital and data, root-cause architecture, full transparency of fees and interfaces, and long-term integrity toward users and the product. Everything built is designed to be open and extended by others beyond the original specification.
Bukov Retains 50% Shareholding in 1inch After Late November 2025 Dismissal
In a statement published on X, Bukov reflected on his tenure at 1inch, which he co-founded in May 2019. During that period, he led the protocol's architecture, security, and economic design, overseeing what he describes as category-defining primitives: the first DEX aggregator, the first Dutch-auction price discovery mechanism for swaps, and trustless cross-chain execution via atomic swaps.
Bukov disclosed that after spending months pushing for changes to the company's leadership and communication structures, he was dismissed in late November 2025. He retains his status as co-founder and holds a 50% shareholding, but has no involvement in 1inch's operations, product architecture, or security oversight.
The experience crystallized a conviction he now treats as foundational: that the long-term success of any project rests equally on technical excellence and on leadership grounded in values that hold under pressure. Bukov stated, "I believe DeFi is the way to an open financial system, one with no friction and no middlemen. I'd rather build that than wait around for it."
FAQ
What is Second Tier and why did Anton Bukov launch it?
Second Tier is a DeFi infrastructure project launched by Anton Bukov following his dismissal from 1inch in late November 2025. The project focuses on building secure, efficient systems that close the distance between economic intent and its execution, operating on principles of user sovereignty, root-cause architecture, full transparency, and long-term integrity.
What is Anton Bukov's current relationship with 1inch?
Anton Bukov retains his status as co-founder of 1inch and holds a 50% shareholding in the company. However, he has no involvement in 1inch's operations, product architecture, or security oversight following his dismissal in late November 2025.
