DEX aggregators adopt intent-based routing by default
Solvers now compete off-chain to fill user orders, improving prices while concentrating flow in a handful of firms.
Two of the largest decentralised-exchange aggregators have switched intent-based routing on by default, replacing deterministic on-chain path-finding with an auction in which off-chain solvers compete to fill a user's stated outcome.
Measured execution has improved. Both projects published data showing tighter effective spreads on mid-size orders relative to their previous routing engines, with the largest gains on illiquid pairs.
The trade-off is concentration. A small number of sophisticated solvers win the majority of auctions, and their inventory and off-chain hedging capabilities are what produce the better prices.
Researchers warn that a solver set this concentrated is a censorship surface as much as an efficiency gain, and have proposed fallback paths that revert to on-chain routing when auctions fail to clear competitively.
Both aggregators say permissionless solver onboarding remains open, and that entry is limited by capital rather than by policy.
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