Aero, the combined successor to Aerodrome and Velodrome, is scheduled to launch on October 21, 2026. The date was confirmed on September 25, 2026 after months of audits, public code review, and early “Aero Lite” deployments.
The project is positioning itself as a single liquidity layer spanning much of the Ethereum ecosystem rather than two separate DEXs on Base and OP Mainnet.
The two predecessor protocols already process a sizable share of EVM spot volume.
Aero is designed to fold that activity into one token, one incentive system, and one set of contracts built on Dromos Labs’ MetaDEX03 architecture.
At launch the protocol will go live on seven networks: Base, Ethereum mainnet, OP Mainnet, Arc, Ink, Robinhood Chain, and Arbitrum.
Robinhood Chain and Arbitrum were added to the final roster in the September update.
Every chain is slated to receive a full deployment, with AERO rewards flowing across all of them.
Trading is meant to work through Metaswaps: on-chain routing that can move tokens across supported networks without relying on off-chain market makers.
Liquidity providers will use Slipstream concentrated-liquidity pools.
Fees are designed to adjust with market conditions, and some Layer 2s will include MEV capture.
Staked AERO, or sAERO, is the coordination token.
Holders use Predictive Allocation to send rewards to pools in real time and, in return, receive a share of exchange revenue as it accrues.
The team describes this as a break from weekly vote-and-epoch cycles.
Permissionless market creation is part of the launch design. Projects can stand up pools without a gatekeeper.
Eligible pools can also take incentive deposits to pull liquidity before organic demand arrives.
An internal mechanism called the AER Engine is intended to set reward rates in dollar terms and cap inflation against projected pool revenue, so emissions track activity rather than running on a fixed schedule.
Security work has been a central part of the delay from earlier 2026 targets.
Multiple private audits reported no critical or high-severity findings.
A public contest followed, and the team says final fixes are being merged. Aero Lite, a lighter Slipstream-based version, is already live on Arc so some chains can have liquidity infrastructure before the full stack arrives.
The economic story is continuity plus expansion.
Existing AERO and VELO holders are expected to migrate into a single AERO token.
The protocol states that 100% of exchange revenue will go to stakers, with no private token sale.
Combined Aerodrome and Velodrome activity already covers a meaningful slice of EVM spot volume; adding Ethereum mainnet, Arbitrum, and Robinhood Chain is meant to enlarge that surface as more assets, including tokenized stocks on Robinhood Chain, move on-chain.
In the weeks before October 21 the team plans to publish a launch-week schedule, migration guidance for liquidity providers and veNFT holders, more detail on the economic model, and builder documentation.