Aero Debuts Across Seven Networks With Revenue Routed to AERO Stakers

Aero brings Aerodrome and Velodrome under one decentralized exchange across seven networks, extending their liquidity and revenue model beyond Base and OP Mainnet. At launch, all exchange revenue goes to holders who stake AERO, called sAERO. The design also gives those stakers a role in deciding where liquidity incentives go, tying rewards to the markets they back.

Developer Dromos Labs said Aero went live on Wednesday on Base, OP Mainnet, Ethereum Mainnet, Arbitrum, Robinhood Chain, Ink and Arc. Across those networks, decentralized exchanges recorded about $120 billion in trading volume during the 30 days ending Oct. 14. Aero said that total was close to four times the combined volume on Base and OP Mainnet alone, giving the merged platform a broader set of markets from day one.

“Every market is coming onchain, and any institution that can be distilled into code will be. Their margin is our opportunity,” said Alex Cutler, Dromos Labs’ CEO and founder. He said the exchange sends “100% of the revenue it earns” to AERO stakers. That arrangement makes the platform’s stated economic model direct: exchange revenue flows to stakers, while liquidity providers choose how they receive compensation.

Stakers allocate liquidity incentives

Aero’s Predictive Allocation system lets sAERO holders direct the exchange’s liquidity-rewards budget toward markets they expect to generate revenue. Those markets then return a proportional share of their earnings to the stakers who allocated support, with payments made in real time. Aero says participants who support a market early and correctly can receive the largest rewards. The mechanism makes allocation a bet on future market activity, so results depend on whether the chosen markets actually produce revenue.

Liquidity providers have a separate choice: collect trading fees directly or receive AERO emissions. The AERO reward amount is set in dollar terms and can increase as activity in a pool rises. Token issuers and other protocols can also pay to deepen liquidity in markets they want to support. These options give pools more than one route to attract liquidity, while leaving providers exposed to changes in trading activity and the value of token rewards.

The launch also includes Metaswaps, which Aero describes as cross-chain swaps completed in a single transaction, and Slipstream V3, an updated concentrated-liquidity engine with dynamic fees. An optional Autopilot tool automates sAERO allocations. Together, those features address different parts of using the exchange: moving assets across networks, setting liquidity conditions and managing allocation decisions. The available information does not specify how Autopilot chooses allocations, so stakers considering it will need to assess the tool’s settings and behavior directly.

Predecessor metrics frame the expansion

Aero points to the operating history of its two predecessor exchanges as evidence for combining them. In the third quarter, Aerodrome accounted for 58% of decentralized-exchange trading on Base, while Velodrome accounted for 60% on OP Mainnet, according to Aero. The company also reported that Aerodrome’s share of tokenized-stock trading across Ethereum and its layer-2 networks rose from roughly 2% at the start of September to 57% by Oct. 10.

The revenue figures use different snapshots. Aero said Aerodrome and Velodrome had returned a combined $578 million in revenue to tokenholders. Its public metrics page showed about $580 million in lifetime exchange revenue as of Monday. These are figures reported by Aero and its predecessors; they describe historical activity and do not establish how much revenue the expanded exchange will generate across its seven networks.

Token conversion requires holder action

Aero says it began without venture funding or a token sale. Existing AERO and VELO holders can exchange their tokens for the new AERO, while veAERO and veVELO positions convert into sAERO. The conversion is not automatic: holders must take action under the upgrade terms. Each VELO converts at a rate of 0.044 AERO.

The new token supply is divided between holders of the predecessor tokens: Aerodrome holders receive 94.5%, and Velodrome holders receive 5.5%. Aero said that allocation reflects each exchange’s portion of their combined revenue during the 52 weeks before the merger was announced in November 2025. Holders therefore face a practical transition step, and the stated conversion terms determine how their existing positions map to the merged system.

Before launch, the contracts were audited by ChainSecurity, Blackthorn, Riley Holterhus and GregoAI. Aero also said a three-week public contest on Sherlock took place ahead of launch and that a Sherlock bug bounty opened at launch. Audits and bounty programs offer ways to identify contract issues, but they do not establish that contracts are free of defects. The expanded deployment across seven networks makes the behavior of the contracts, bridges and allocation tools a continuing point for users and developers to monitor.

For more on Cutler’s views, listen to ‘This Is a Better Version of a Stock, Period,’ Says Cutler. The key test for Aero now is whether its allocation design can attract liquidity and recurring trading activity across the newly supported networks while delivering the revenue flow promised to sAERO holders.

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