# The Liquidity Gap: How LPs Are Leaving Billions on the Table | Holly Atkinson at Pragma Lisbon 2026

- Speakers: Holly Atkinson
- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2026-09-09
- Duration: 13:54
- Topics: ETHGlobal, Pragma Lisbon 2026, Lisbon, 2026, Holly Atkinson, 1inch, 1inch Aqua, liquidity providers, DeFi liquidity, capital efficiency, shared liquidity, concentrated liquidity, liquidity strategies, onchain trading, Pragma Lisbon, 1inch liquidity, Aqua protocol, DeFi capital efficiency, idle liquidity problem, liquidity provider strategies, LP capital efficiency, shared liquidity protocol, programmable liquidity, concentrated liquidity positions, Uniswap V3 liquidity
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-n4vjGqSluio
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4vjGqSluio

## Description

Holly Atkinson, CPTO at 1inch, examines DeFi’s idle-liquidity problem and introduces 1inch Aqua as a shared-liquidity architecture. Concentrated-liquidity positions can leave large portions of capital outside the active trading range, with individual liquidity providers suffering most when positions are not continuously managed. Aqua lets a wallet’s token balance support multiple configurable strategies at once, creating a multiplier effect without moving funds into separate protocol contracts for every position. Atkinson explains why concentrated liquidity improved market efficiency while creating a management burden. Capital earns fees only when the market trades inside a selected range, so an apparently large position may be mostly inactive. Automated managers can rebalance, but individual LPs often leave positions untouched and bear a disproportionate share of idle capital. Aqua changes the accounting model by allowing strategies to reference tokens in a wallet instead of requiring every strategy to hold a separate balance.

Liquidity providers can define ranges, spreads, decay rules, fees, and swap types, then create or cancel positions in a single transaction. Tokens remain in the user’s wallet under a revocable allowance; when the wallet lacks sufficient balance, fills stop and resume after it is replenished. Verified 1inch counterparties execute swaps, while fees remain attributable to each position. Atkinson presents the system as programmable, reusable liquidity rather than passive locked capital and invites developers to test the Aqua app, documentation, and open protocol. The promise is greater capital efficiency, more strategy flexibility, and more chances for LPs to earn fees from the same assets. A user can authorize a token once per chain, allocate the same available balance across several strategies, and set independent pricing or fee logic for each. The wallet balance acts as a hard cap, so strategies stop filling rather than creating an unsecured obligation. Verified resolvers execute swaps, while the LP retains control over allowances and can revoke access. Atkinson encourages developers to treat Aqua as infrastructure for new market-making applications, not only as a 1inch interface.

00:00 Introduction to Idle DeFi Liquidity
00:42 Dune Research on Capital Efficiency
01:13 The Scale of Underutilized Liquidity
01:48 Why Individual LPs Lose More
02:27 Introducing 1inch Aqua
03:03 Wallet Balances and Shared Strategies
03:37 Configurable Ranges, Spreads, and Fees
04:18 Shipping Positions Through 1inch Routing
04:50 Verified Resolvers Execute Swaps
05:22 Atomic Fees and More Swap Activity
05:54 Creating and Cancelling Positions
06:23 Self-Custody and Fee-Sniping Protection
07:00 Verifiable Strategy Configurations
07:39 Wallet Balances Cap Protocol Exposure
08:14 Compliance, Audits, and Resolver Controls
08:45 Aqua Risks and the Wallet-Pool Model
09:17 Liquidity Reuse Across Many Positions
09:52 Early Access for Hackathon Builders
10:55 Aqua App and Developer Documentation
11:30 The Three-Part Aqua Architecture
11:57 Virtual Balances and Token Movement
12:22 Building Custom Aqua Applications
12:52 Immutable Parameters and Swap Logic
13:21 Closing Invitation for Feedback

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🇵🇹 *Pragma Lisbon 2026*
Pragma Lisbon 2026 was held on June 25th at the Carlos Lopes Pavillion in Lisbon, Portugal and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma Lisbon 2026 YouTube Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMxB4xW8JYdk

ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. 

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✅ Follow Holly Atkinson
X: https://x.com/holdoesdev

✅ Follow 1inch
X: https://x.com/1inch

✅ Follow ETHGlobal
X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​
Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal
Website: https://ethglobal.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCfF9ZO8Ug4xk_AJd4aeT5HA 

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