About Aero
What is Aero?
Aero is the unified liquidity layer for all of Ethereum: a cross-network digital asset exchange delivering institutional-grade execution, efficiency, and automation. Its combination of leading technology and economic innovation makes Aero the onchain venue for users, agents, and protocols to trade, earn, and launch digital assets onchain.
Aero launched on October 21st, 2026, without venture capital backing or token sales. It is the merger of Aerodrome and Velodrome into a single product, token, and economy. The protocol operates as a zero-leak economy: 100% of the revenue generated is distributed to the participants who power it.
Aero has no centralized servers or dependencies and runs on immutable smart contracts that were audited by the Sherlock and ChainSecurity teams.
Aero's multi-network architecture
Aero is a multi-network system where core contracts on Base coordinate protocol emissions, network expansion, and cross-network reward allocation. Each network runs its own local deployment of pools, gauges, and reward distribution contracts. This design minimizes latency and transaction costs while maintaining global coordination across all networks.
How it works
Aero coordinates how liquidity is distributed across markets. Token Operators (holders of sAERO) allocate AERO Rewards (new emissions) to the pools expected to be most productive, replacing fixed emission schedules with a continuous stream of rewards that responds to expected trading volume. Reward distribution acts as a market-derived signal.
Three participants drive this system:
- Traders generate fees by swapping tokens on Aero. Deeper, strategically deployed liquidity means better execution and pricing when and where they need it most.
- Liquidity Providers deposit tokens into liquidity pools to enable trading and earn superior AERO Rewards. They can also choose to earn a portion of the trading fees instead. Both paths incentivize strengthening of market depth where it's needed.
- Token Operators stake AERO and direct rewards toward pools. In exchange, they receive 100% of the Exchange Revenue (trading fees, MEV capture, Liquidity Payments, Launch Payments) from pools where they direct rewards. This aligns their incentives with protocol success.
The result is a flywheel: AERO Rewards attract liquidity. Liquidity enables trading. Trading generates revenue. Revenue rewards Token Operators. Token Operators direct allocation to productive pools. Emerging tokens bootstrap liquidity on-demand by attracting allocation. Protocols shape their trading environment. All participants are rewarded for contributing to efficient well-functioning markets.