1inch

1inch rewards are earned by delegating Unicorn Power to Fusion resolvers

1inch rewards are resolver-funded 1INCH incentives earned after a holder locks 1INCH, receives non-transferable st1INCH and Unicorn Power, and delegates that power to a Fusion resolver. The resolver’s active farm sets the reward budget, distribution period, and displayed yield; no funded farm means no new payout.

Lock length and resolver funding settle the reward decision

The delegation decision rests on three variables: the 1INCH lock length, the resulting Unicorn Power, and the resolver farm’s funded distribution. Lock duration establishes a wallet’s starting share of power, while the farm budget and total delegated UP establish its share of rewards.

Lock length sets starting power

The staking contract accepts lock periods from 1 month through 2 years, and longer commitments generate more Unicorn Power at the start.

The power curve isn’t linear. A 2-year lock begins at 0.3162 UP per 1INCH, a 1-year lock at 0.1778, and an expired lock retains 0.1 UP per 1INCH. Equal 1INCH balances therefore produce different reward weights. Unicorn Power also declines as time passes, so a quoted rate tied to today’s UP doesn’t freeze the wallet’s future payout. Extending a lock raises power, but the staking design doesn’t let a holder shorten the chosen period or reduce the position before using the withdrawal path.

Resolver funding sets the advertised yield

A resolver farm holds a defined pool of 1INCH and releases it over its configured schedule. The displayed annual percentage yield annualizes that distribution against the delegated power then present. If additional UP arrives while the budget stays fixed, each existing unit receives a smaller share. If the resolver adds funds or opens a new schedule, the rate changes. Compare the funded amount, remaining period, and total delegated UP.

Gas sets the economic break-even point

Delegating, changing resolvers, claiming, and unstaking are Ethereum state changes, so each relevant call consumes ETH for gas. A high quoted APY doesn’t settle the decision when the position is small and several claims cost more than the tokens released. Claim frequency therefore belongs in the calculation before locking. The farm’s payout token is 1INCH, an ERC-20 token with 18 decimal places, yet wallet interfaces round tiny accrued amounts. The break-even point changes with Ethereum gas and the holder’s intended claim schedule.

Early exit changes the reward calculation before expiry

Early withdrawal changes both principal recovery and reward weight because st1INCH stays time-locked until its selected expiry date. The penalty falls as the remaining time shrinks.

The penalty applies to the entire position

The st1INCH withdrawal calculation uses the full locked balance and its remaining Unicorn Power rather than a user-selected portion, as described in 1inch fees.

The maximum early-withdrawal loss is 90%, and the contract expresses withdrawal amount as (balance − voting power) ÷ 0.9. A second step subtracts that withdrawal amount from the full balance to find the penalty. Because Unicorn Power represents the time-weighted portion, an exit near the beginning removes substantially more 1INCH than an exit near expiry. Once the lock expires, the penalty reaches 0%, and the full position becomes withdrawable. The contract rejects partial withdrawals: unstaking processes 100% of the staked amount in that wallet position. This all-or-nothing rule matters when only part of the balance is needed elsewhere.

Delegation doesn’t remove the lock

Resolver delegation transfers Unicorn Power’s utility, not custody of 1INCH. The st1INCH remains in the staking contract, and choosing another Fusion resolver doesn’t restart or shorten its expiry. Rewards stop accruing from the old resolver when delegation moves, then begin under the new resolver after the replacement transaction confirms if that farm holds funding. An active lock therefore survives resolver changes, while an early unstake invokes the staking penalty even if the farm has ended. The answer changes when the lock reaches expiry.

Unicorn Power turns a 1INCH lock into resolver weight

Unicorn Power converts a time-locked 1INCH balance into the weight that Fusion uses to rank resolvers and divide farm distributions. Within 1inch Network, st1INCH records the locked position as a non-transferable ERC-20 balance, while UP supplies the decaying utility attached to it. Delegating doesn’t transfer st1INCH, 1INCH, or a claim on the wallet. The flow assigns 100% of the wallet’s available UP to the selected resolver, so the holder doesn’t split that power across several resolver farms.

Resolvers seek delegated UP because eligibility and order-filling priority depend on their accumulated power. The registered set is capped at the top 10 resolvers, and a resolver must also meet the 5% total-UP threshold. A resolver combines its own stake with power delegated by other stakers, then funds a farm to compensate those delegators. This connects both sides: delegators supply ranking weight, while the resolver supplies 1INCH rewards. The same metric also represents 1inch DAO voting weight, although resolver delegation uses it here as operational ranking power. Resolver rank and each wallet’s proportional farm share change as delegated power moves.

Resolver farms convert delegated power into claimable 1INCH

Resolver farms turn delegated Unicorn Power into 1inch rewards by releasing a funded 1INCH budget pro rata over a configured schedule. A funded farm starts accrual after the delegation transaction confirms.

The budget and denominator set each share

A farm calculates each wallet’s allocation from its delegated UP divided by the total UP participating in that farm.

Three live inputs move the payout: remaining 1INCH funding, time left, and total delegated Unicorn Power. A second resolver with the same distribution period pays a different amount when its budget or delegation denominator differs. Likewise, a farm that reaches the end of its funded schedule releases no further rewards until another distribution begins. The displayed APY annualizes the farm’s distribution against the delegation present at that moment. It summarizes those inputs; it doesn’t create an obligation beyond the 1INCH that the resolver assigned to the farm.

Worked example: proportional farm allocation

The proportional calculation shows how one wallet’s delegated power becomes a concrete share of a resolver’s distribution.

All four changing inputs in this hypothetical example are invented: a 1 000 1INCH farm budget, 10 000 total delegated UP, 250 wallet UP, and a 30-day schedule. The wallet holds 250 ÷ 10 000 = 2.5% of farm power. Applying 2.5% to 1 000 1INCH produces 25 1INCH over the full 30 days, before the wallet pays gas to claim. If total UP rises during the schedule, later accrual falls because the wallet’s share becomes smaller; the final total then differs from 25 1INCH.

Claiming moves rewards without compounding them

Accrued rewards remain separate from st1INCH and don’t automatically increase Unicorn Power. A holder claims the available 1INCH with an on-chain transaction, then chooses whether to hold it or add it to the stake through another contract interaction. Since 1inch rewards accrue every second after delegation, frequent claims don’t accelerate the farm’s release rate. They only move already-accrued 1INCH to the wallet. The useful claim interval changes when gas cost, accrued amount, or the farm’s remaining life changes.

On-chain confirmations control accrual and access

On-chain confirmations determine when delegation starts, moves, and pays because resolver rewards don’t begin from an unsigned interface selection alone. The 1inch dApp combines token permission and staking into 1 transaction, then delegation needs a separate confirmation. Claiming and unstaking are additional state changes. Across the basic path, 4 decisions alter contract state: stake, delegate, claim, and unstake. Accrual changes when the relevant transaction confirms.

Delegation suits holders with a credible lock horizon

Resolver delegation fits a holder whose 1INCH horizon comfortably covers the chosen lock and whose expected payout exceeds Ethereum transaction costs. The mechanism rewards time commitment, not trading activity: 2 years creates the highest starting UP, while the 1-month floor preserves more flexibility at lower power. It also suits users willing to monitor farm funding, delegation totals, and expiry dates because a resolver’s rate changes as those inputs move. Suitability changes when liquidity needs arrive before the lock expires.