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- Aerodrome Finance’s AERO token jumped up to 16% on Sunday ahead of the Oct. 21 merger with Velodrome.
- The two decentralized exchanges will combine into Aero, launching across seven Ethereum-compatible networks at 8 p.m. ET.
- Existing AERO and veAERO holders will receive 94.5% of the unified token allocation, while VELO and veVELO holders receive 5.5%.
Aerodrome Finance’s AERO token jumped as much as 16% on Sunday before pairing part of the gain, as traders looked ahead to the Oct. 21 merger of Aerodrome and Velodrome. The two decentralized exchanges will combine into Aero, a unified protocol launching across seven Ethereum-compatible networks.
AERO was still up about 8% over 24 hours after the initial move, while remaining well below its December 2024 all-time high. The rally followed fresh comments from Aerodrome co-founder Alexander Cutler about the scale of the coming launch.
Aero Launches Across Seven Chains
Aero is scheduled to launch on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. ET, or midnight UTC on Oct. 22. The initial deployments will cover Base, Ethereum mainnet, OP Mainnet, Arc, Ink, Arbitrum and Robinhood Chain.
The unified protocol will use Dromos Labs’ MetaDEX03 architecture and introduce features including cross-chain Metaswaps, dynamic fees and MEV capture. AERO rewards will also operate across all seven deployments, with governance participants directing incentives through the new system.
Cutler Teases Bigger DeFi Relaunch
Speaking at the Digital Asset Summit, Cutler described Aero as the team’s third generation of decentralized exchange infrastructure and its most ambitious release so far. He said the project is designed around attracting liquidity across multiple networks rather than operating separate exchanges on individual chains.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fireworks.”
Aerodrome currently serves Base, while Velodrome began on Optimism and later expanded across the Superchain. The protocols share underlying technology and are both developed around infrastructure from Dromos Labs.
AERO and VELO Communities Will Combine
The merger will also consolidate the two token ecosystems behind AERO. Aerodrome has said 94.5% of the unified token allocation will go to existing AERO and veAERO holders, while 5.5% will go to VELO and veVELO holders.
Aerodrome said the split reflects the revenue generated by the two protocols over the previous 52 weeks. The Oct. 21 launch will therefore combine their liquidity, incentives, and governance under one protocol rather than simply adding new chains to the existing Aerodrome deployment.
