0x, a decentralized exchange infrastructure firm, has announced its acquisition of Flood, a strategic move aimed at bolstering its competitiveness in the rapidly evolving DEX aggregation market.
Decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, serve as vital components of the DeFi ecosystem, allowing users to exchange assets without the need for intermediaries like centralized exchanges. Notably, aggregators such as 0x provide a comprehensive platform for traders by scanning across multiple DEXs to facilitate the most cost-effective trades for a nominal fee, amid intense competition that exists on narrow profit margins.
The impetus for the acquisition was Flood’s proprietary aggregation software, as revealed by Amir Bandeali, CEO of 0x, in an exclusive discussion. “We looked at Flood and conducted similar assessments, and we were quite impressed with the results we observed,” he stated. Conversely, Flood’s co-founder Francesco Baccetti remarked, “We constructed everything from the ground up to achieve this level of performance that we currently possess.”
This acquisition marks the first for 0x since its founding in 2017. Although the company did not disclose the financial details of the deal due to contractual restrictions, it is noteworthy that Flood previously secured $5.2 million from investors in February 2024.
In recent data, the leading 12 DEX aggregators collectively processed nearly $10 billion in trading volume over the last week, which accounts for around 10% of all on-chain trading. Additionally, aggregators possessing tradable tokens hold an estimated combined value of $2.3 billion.
0x, while one of the oldest aggregators, is not the biggest in terms of trading volume, with competitors such as 1inch and CoW Swap dominating in the Ethereum landscape, whereas Jupiter leads in Solana.
Through the integration of both companies’ technologies, 0x aims to capture more market share from its larger competitors across different blockchain platforms. The addition of Flood’s talented development team also plays a critical role in ensuring success within this complex niche sector of aggregation and trade routing. With an increasing complexity in DeFi, the demand for effective aggregators is anticipated to grow significantly.
