Documentation

Getting started

This is a quickstart guide to everything you need to get started on Aero. In this guide you can see a breakdown of the core app functions: swapping a token, putting liquidity to work, staking AERO, and allocating AERO rewards. Each section covers one of Aero's core functions.

What you need

Aero runs on several networks at once. Base is the home network, where the core token and contracts live. Ethereum mainnet, Arc, and the others are accessible through Aero. Three things get you to a first transaction: a browser wallet, the gas token of the network you are on, and the tokens you intend to trade or deposit.

  1. Connect a wallet. The Connect button sits in the top right of the App.
  2. Pick a network. Pools and rewards are local to each one, so the network you select determines what the app shows you.
  3. Check gas. Transactions are paid in the network's own gas token (e.g., ETH).

Swapping tokens

  1. Open Trade, select the token to sell, and enter an amount.
  2. Select the token to buy. A quote appears with the expected output and the fee.
  3. Adjust slippage settings if needed.
  4. Execute the swap by signing the required allowance and final swap transactions in your wallet.

Slipstream pools charge Dynamic Fees. The fee rises when the pool price moves away from its recent time-weighted average price, up to a per-pool cap.

Metaswaps offers cross-network swaps on Aero pools. Routing and bridging happen inside the swap itself, so a token you hold on one network can be traded for a token on another without bridging first as a separate errand. The app tracks the trade while it settles on the destination chain.

Slippage is the difference between the quoted price and the executed price, which can occur when the market moves before the transaction settles. Routing and fees are covered in full under Trading.

Creating a liquidity deposit

  1. Open Liquidity and start a New deposit.
  2. Select the two tokens. The app lists whichever pools already exist for that pair.
  3. Select the pool. Basic Pools hold liquidity across the whole price curve. Slipstream pools hold it inside a price range you choose.
  4. Set a price range if required, or select an automated liquidity management (ALM) option if available.
  5. Choose to earn AERO rewards or Fee rewards.
  6. Fill in the token amounts, and complete the deposit.

Step five separates Aero from an ordinary AMM. Deposits can switch between earning Fees and AERO rewards at any time.

  • Fee-earning liquidity earns a portion of the fees generated by the pool.
  • AERO-earning liquidity is deposited into the pool's gauge and earns AERO Rewards allocated to that pool. The swap fees the deposit would have kept go to Exchange Revenue instead.

A pool needs an active gauge before it can pay AERO Rewards at all, so a deposit in a pool without a Gauge just earns fees. Pool types and ranges are covered under Providing Liquidity.

Staking AERO

  1. Open Stake and enter an amount of AERO.
  2. Set the staking period. A fixed period starts a withdrawal countdown straight away. Perpetual Stake holds the stake at the max 4-year duration time. It can be turned off any time to start the withdrawal countdown.
  3. Create the stake to receive sAERO.

sAERO carries Allocation Power and a claim on Exchange Revenue. Allocation Power is calculated as:

sAERO = AERO Balance Staked x (Remaining Duration / Maximum Duration)

Where Maximum Duration is 4 years.

Allocating AERO Rewards

Predictive Allocation is how sAERO holders direct rewards to LPs and earn Exchange Revenue. Instead of following a weekly epoch window, sAERO holders can select pools any time to direct AERO and receive a share of the Revenue generated by the pool. Pool revenue is distributed as it's earned.

  1. Open Markets and choose which sAERO stake you choose to use to direct rewards.
  2. Select the pools worth backing and divide Allocation Power between them. The app shows how much of the stake is still uncommitted.
  3. Confirm your allocation. It begins immediately directing AERO Rewards to those pools and earning Exchange Revenue in return.

Each sAERO stake has its own Allocation Cooldown of 47 hours before it can direct rewards to another set of pools.

sAERO positions must Allocate Power to pools to begin earning Exchange Revenue.

To automate sAERO allocations, configure Autopilot to allocate and claim on your behalf. You set it up yourself and can switch it off again.

Claiming earnings

Portfolio is where earnings are claimed, with separate tabs for liquidity and sAERO rewards.

  • A Fee-earning liquidity deposit earns trading fees.
  • An AERO-earning deposit earns AERO Rewards.
  • sAERO earns Exchange Revenue.

The Aero Flywheel

Each of the steps above represents one part of the AERO Flywheel. Traders pay fees on the pool. Those fees attract sAERO allocations and drive AERO Rewards to the pool. AERO Rewards attract liquidity providers to improve pool depth. Liquidity depth improves execution, better execution brings more trading, and more trading generates more fees.