Aerodrome and Velodrome merge to launch Aero across seven blockchain networks

Aerodrome and Velodrome have merged to create Aero, an onchain spot exchange spanning seven blockchain networks. A Wednesday statement said Aero is launching on Ethereum mainnet, Base, Robinhood Chain, Ink, OP Mainnet, Arc and Arbitrum. Aero aims to consolidate the existing operations of both decentralized exchanges into one platform.

The team said Aero builds on the model that helped Aerodrome and Velodrome grow. The statement put Aerodrome's share of Base's decentralized exchange trading volume at 58% in the third quarter. The statement put Velodrome's share of OP Mainnet's decentralized exchange trading volume at 60% during that quarter. Aerodrome also ranked first among decentralized exchanges for bitcoin-dollar trading volume during the quarter. The project said Aero improves the model and extends the model to seven networks with combined decentralized exchange trading volume of about $120 billion per month.

Alex Cutler is the founder and CEO of Dromos Labs, which develops Aero. Cutler said, "Every market is coming onchain, and any institution that can be distilled into code will be. Their margin is our opportunity." Cutler attributed the success of Aerodrome and Velodrome to a model that serves users better. Cutler said Aero brings that model to some of the largest onchain markets. Cutler said 100% of Aero's revenue goes to people who stake AERO.

The statement said existing AERO and VELO tokens will migrate to a new AERO token under the merger. The statement said veAERO and veVELO will convert into sAERO.

The team said Aero introduced an economic system intended to encourage liquidity providers and reward staked AERO holders who coordinate the network. The system's central feature, Predictive Allocation, allows participants to stake AERO and allocate the liquidity rewards budget to markets that participants expect will produce revenue.

Aero is also launching Metaswaps to connect trading between networks through existing onchain liquidity. The statement said another upgrade, Slipstream V3, adds dynamic fees that increase during rapid market movements. The statement said Slipstream V3 also introduces MEV capture on supported Layer 2 networks.