Aero is a decentralized exchange (DEX) formed by merging Aerodrome, the largest DEX on Base, with Velodrome, the leading DEX on OP Mainnet. It went live on October 21 at 8 p.m. ET (00:00 UTC
Aero is a decentralized exchange (DEX) formed by merging Aerodrome, the largest DEX on Base, with Velodrome, the leading DEX on OP Mainnet. It went live on October 21 at 8 p.m. ET (00:00 UTC on October 22) as an onchain spot exchange on seven networks: Ethereum mainnet, Base, Robinhood Chain, Ink, OP Mainnet, Arc and Arbitrum.
Old AERO and VELO tokens become a single new AERO token, and locked positions become sAERO.
Aero brings the operations of two exchanges onto one platform. It is developed by Dromos Labs, whose founder and CEO is Alex Cutler. The seven networks Aero covers together handle about $120 billion a month in DEX trading, according to the project.
Cutler said 100% of the revenue Aero earns goes to people who stake AERO. Explaining why traditional finance is a target, he said: “Their margin is our opportunity.”
The launch had no venture capital backing and no token sale. The whole new supply goes to existing holders.
Both exchanges led their home networks, and the merger takes the same model to more chains. In the third quarter of 2026, according to team figures:
Aerodrome’s share of tokenized-stock trading on Ethereum and its layer-2 networks reportedly rose from about 2% in early September to 57% by October 10. The two exchanges have distributed a reported $578 million to tokenholders.
Dromos Labs first announced the merger in November 2025. At the time, it planned to finish the merger in the second quarter of 2026.
The swap follows fixed ratios based on each community’s share of the new supply. Aerodrome holders receive about 94.5% of new AERO, and Velodrome holders receive about 5.5%.
VELO starts on OP Mainnet, while the upgraded AERO arrives on Base. VELO held as xVELO must first be bridged back to OP Mainnet.
On the old exchanges, holders locked tokens as veAERO or veVELO, short for “vote-escrowed.” These positions were held as NFTs called veNFTs. They now convert to sAERO, the staked form of the new token. Remaining lock time is rounded up to the next full week.
Permanent locks become maximum-term stakes that cannot be unstaked before expiry. Unlike the old positions, sAERO can be transferred and does not rebase. A rebase is an automatic change in token balance.
Nothing converts automatically. Self-custody users must use the upgrade portal on aerodrome.finance or velodrome.finance. Before converting, they must claim rewards and rebases and clear active votes.
Holders whose veNFTs voted in the final epoch could begin upgrading at 01:00 UTC on October 22, one hour after launch. Emissions on both legacy platforms stopped at launch, so holders who do not upgrade stop earning new rewards.
The merger also replaces the reward system both exchanges used before.
Aerodrome and Velodrome used a “ve(3,3)” model. In that model, locked holders voted once a week on which liquidity pools received new token emissions. Aero replaces it with Predictive Allocation. sAERO holders direct AERO rewards to pools in real time. They then earn a share of the revenue those pools produce while their allocation is active. Initial allocation changes carry a 47-hour cooldown.
A gauge is the contract that sends rewards to a pool. Aero’s Gauge Caps limit each pool’s rewards based on its projected revenue. The long-term target is for rewards to average about 1.2 times projected revenue. AERO above a pool’s cap is never minted.
At current revenue, Aero estimates annual issuance at about 8% of supply, down from about 11% before. The stated annual inflation cap is 20%. For scale, veAERO holders received $6.1 million in trading fees and $8.9 million in Liquidity and Launch Payments over four weeks in September.
Metaswaps connects trading across Aero’s networks using its existing onchain liquidity. Slipstream V3 adds dynamic fees, which rise when markets move fast. It also captures MEV on supported layer-2 networks. MEV, or maximal extractable value, is profit that can be taken by reordering transactions in a block.
Aero combines Aerodrome and Velodrome into one onchain spot exchange on seven networks. Old AERO converts 1:1 and VELO at about 0.044, with all supply going to existing holders. sAERO holders now direct rewards in real time through Predictive Allocation and receive 100% of exchange revenue. Gauge Caps limit emissions, Metaswaps routes trades across networks, and Slipstream V3 adds dynamic fees. AERO trades near $0.80 after launch.
