Aerodrome Finance (AERO) is a decentralized exchange and liquidity hub built on Base, Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network. It uses the ve(3,3) model, in which holders lock AERO to vote on where token emissions go. On 21 October 2026, Aerodrome merged with Velodrome into a single exchange called Aero. The AERO token now operates under a new contract address. CoinStats data captured at 02:38 UTC on 1 November 2026 puts the price at $0.6467, with a market cap of $521.23M (rank #143).
Core technology and blockchain architecture
Aerodrome runs constant-product pools for volatile and stable-asset markets, along with Slipstream, a concentrated-liquidity system derived from Uniswap V3 that lets liquidity providers deploy capital within set price ranges. Staked positions route fees through gauges to veAERO holders, while unstaked positions keep their own trading fees. A DefiLlama-sourced research report from May 2026 attributes 88.6% of fees to Slipstream. The codebase is inherited from Velodrome V2. veAERO is an ERC-721 NFT whose voting weight decays linearly, with locks of up to four years.
Primary use cases
Users swap tokens and deposit assets to provide liquidity. veAERO holders vote every seven days to allocate AERO emissions across pools, and projects deposit voting incentives, known as bribes, that are paid to holders who vote for their pool. After the merger, sAERO replaces veAERO and veVELO, and holders use Predictive Allocation to direct AERO Rewards. Aero launched on seven networks: Base, Ethereum Mainnet, OP Mainnet, Arc, Ink, Robinhood Chain and Arbitrum.
Tokenomics
The circulating supply is 805,967,983 AERO, and the total supply is 2,007,019,188 AERO. At the merger, AERO holders received 94.5% of the new supply and VELO holders received 5.5%. Sources state that the merged supply includes no team or venture capital allocation.
Emissions are the main inflation driver. Aerodrome's emission rate was approximately 10.9% annualized as of April 2026. Aero's documentation sets a hard ceiling of 20% annualized inflation at launch, and its economic case plans to continue a dilution rate of roughly 11% per year. Once emissions fall below a threshold, veAERO voters can adjust the emission rate by ±0.01% of total supply per epoch, though sources disagree on when this activates. A newly established Aero Momentum Fund reportedly bought back and burned 174,000 AERO, valued at $122,000, on 28 October 2026. Beyond these buybacks, the sources do not confirm a deflationary mechanism.
Consensus mechanism and network security
Aerodrome and Aero do not run their own consensus mechanism. Their security depends on Base, and Kraken describes Base as an Ethereum Layer 2 network.
Aerodrome inherits the Velodrome V2 architecture, which was audited by Spearbit and ChainSecurity. Aero's security documentation lists three code audits by ChainSecurity and two by Sherlock's Blackthorn team, plus a three-week public audit contest hosted by Sherlock. The $400K contest began on 31 August 2026, and Outposts reported that it closed with no major roadblocks identified.
Key partnerships and ecosystem integrations
Kraken handles the AERO migration for its users, with a window from 2 to 6 November 2026. AltcoinBuzz reports that Coinbase migrates both tokens from 2 to 4 November. Hibt, MEXC and BloFin have also announced migration support. Aero's economic case states that the protocol connects liquidity to millions of Coinbase users. The protocol also offers liquidity launchpad programs to bootstrap new trading pairs.
Competitive advantages and unique value proposition
The Block reports that Aerodrome accounted for 58% of DEX trading volume on Base in Q3. CoinMarketCap, citing DefiLlama, reports 51.5% over the past 30 days. Aero states that 100% of its revenue goes to AERO stakers, a claim made by the project itself. Under Predictive Allocation, Gauge Caps reportedly limit emissions to 1.2 times expected revenue, according to KuCoin. Aero also positions its dynamic fees and MEV capture on Slipstream V3 as differentiators.
Who is behind Aerodrome Finance and where is it based?
Founders and development company
Dromos Labs describes itself as the core development company behind Aero. Its team page lists Alexander Cutler as Chief Executive Officer, Stas Sușcov as Chief Technology Officer, Jim Petrila as Chief Legal Officer and Chris Boulos as President. Cutler is the figure most consistently named in public reporting. Dromos states that some team members are public figures and many are not, and CoinStats reports that the full contributor roster is not publicly disclosed.
Founding year and project history
Velodrome, on Optimism, was built by the Dromos team in 2022. Aerodrome launched on Base on 28 August 2023, and its documentation states that it launched without VC backing or token sales. Dromos announced the Aero merger in November 2025, and the merged exchange launched on 21 October 2026.
Country and legal entity
Dealroom and PitchBook both list San Francisco as the location of Aerodrome. No source confirms the country where Dromos Labs is incorporated. The legal entity is reported inconsistently. A legal disclosure PDF names the Aerodrome Foundation as a Cayman Islands company, but this is a single source that was not checked against a public registry. A Kraken MiCA disclosure says the Velodrome Foundation acts as the legal entity behind Aerodrome. Aero's documentation describes the Aerodrome Foundation as a non-profit but does not state a jurisdiction.
Funding
The Base Ecosystem Fund invested in February 2024, and IQ.wiki describes that fund as led by Coinbase Ventures. Dealroom also lists Coinbase Ventures in July 2024 and Animoca Brands in October 2025. No round amounts are disclosed in the sources reviewed. These investor records conflict with the project's statement that it launched without VC backing.
Current development activity and roadmap
The merger was first revealed on 12 November 2025. The merged Aero exchange launched on 21 October 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT. Predictive Allocation went live on 26 October 2026. At launch, each sAERO position has a 47-hour cooldown between allocation changes. Velodrome continues to support trading and liquidity deposits on Celo, Fraxtal, Soneium and Unichain, without its token economy.