Nikita Ovchinnik’s Journey From 1inch to Barter DeFi

• Nikita Ovchinnik helped scale 1inch by securing funding and building strategic partnerships across the DeFi space.
• He later founded Barter DeFi to optimize on-chain trade routing and liquidity efficiency.

Early 2020 was not an easy time for many people, but not so for Nikita Ovchinnik. While most were still adapting to the rapidly changing world, he entered an industry that was still largely unknown to the general public—DeFi.

He joined 1inch Network not as a co-founder, but as the first outsider hired. But that’s where his role grew the most. Not only did he help 1inch become known, but he also led the platform to become the largest DEX aggregator in terms of daily volume.

Behind the scenes, Nikita was the one who set the tone. His job wasn’t just about finding connections or making cool presentations for investors.

He was directly involved in technical expansion, managing integrations, and most crucially: leading fundraising. Thanks to his agile and efficient approach, 1inch managed to raise $175 million in Series B funding—a figure that would make many DeFi startups gasp.

Nikita Ovchinnik Co-Founds Barter DeFi to Optimize Trade Execution

After successfully growing 1inch, Nikita didn’t immediately take a long vacation like most executives in the tech industry. Instead, he dove back into a new project called Barter DeFi. This time, it’s not just about helping from the outside, but directly as a co-founder.

Barter is not just another DeFi protocol. Their goal is quite bold: to become a ‘solver’ that can complete transactions in the most economical and efficient way, even if it has to connect multiple liquidity providers at once. Like someone who wants to shop at five different stores and still get the best price—in one click.

This protocol is also not playing around when it comes to achievements. In a short time, Barter has handled more than $3.5 billion in on-chain transaction volume and managed to secure $3 million in seed funding.

Their partners are no ordinary names either. They work together with projects like Hashflow and Origin, which already have solid reputations in the crypto space.

On the other hand, Nikita also doesn’t shy away from the public stage. He often speaks at major conferences like Consensus and Avalanche Summit. But what makes her different is that he’s not the type to act like a know-it-all or use complicated technical terms. He is known as a clear speaker—exploring trends like MEV and cross-chain interoperability in a way that even newcomers can digest.

Furthermore, he also actively writes opinions in several industry media. His writing style? Clear and not stuck in empty theories. For example, when he discusses fragmented liquidity, he relates it directly to the experience of small traders who are often trapped in high costs due to suboptimal transaction routes. Language like that makes the reader feel close, not like they are being told to go to college again.

However, not all success comes without risk. The DeFi world moves fast, and players must continue to innovate so as not to be drowned out by new projects that emerge every week. Nikita understands this very well.

Therefore, even though he is already quite successful, he still involves himself as an advisor and investor in early-stage projects. Perhaps for him, the best way to understand the future is to help shape it from the start.