Decentralized exchanges Aerodrome Finance (AERO) and Velodrome have formally merged and launched Aero, an onchain spot exchange that combines the existing businesses of both DEXs under a single platform.
The new exchange is being deployed across seven networks: Ethereum mainnet, Base, Robinhood Chain, Ink, OP Mainnet, Arc, and Arbitrum. Aero was developed by Dromos Labs.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the companies said Aerodrome accounted for 58% of DEX trading volume on Base in the third quarter, while Velodrome held 60% of DEX volume on OP Mainnet. Over the same period, Aerodrome led all DEXs in Bitcoin-dollar trading volume.
Aero expands the model across seven chains
The statement said Aero extends that model across seven networks that together handle about $120 billion in monthly DEX trading volume.
Dromos Labs founder and CEO Alex Cutler said Aerodrome and Velodrome won because the model was more favorable to users. He added that Aero brings that model to the largest markets onchain, and that 100% of the revenue it generates will be returned to users who stake AERO.
Token migration and new tokenomics
As part of the merger, existing AERO and VELO tokens will migrate to a new AERO token. veAERO and veVELO will be converted into sAERO.
Aero is also introducing a new economic system. Its core feature, Predictive Allocation, allows participants to stake AERO and direct liquidity reward budgets toward markets expected to generate returns.
Metaswaps and Slipstream V3
The exchange is also rolling out Metaswaps, which use existing onchain liquidity to connect trades across networks.
The Slipstream V3 upgrade adds a dynamic fee mechanism that raises fees during periods of rapid market moves and captures MEV on supported Layer 2 networks.