Aerodrome, Velodrome merger to create Aero on Oct. 21

Aerodrome Finance and Velodrome are scheduled to merge into a single decentralized exchange called Aero at 8 p.m. ET on Oct. 21, or 00:00 UTC on Oct. 22. The upgrade portals will open at launch, and holders must complete the migration themselves.

Aero is set to operate on Base, Ethereum, OP Mainnet, Arc, Ink, Robinhood Chain and Arbitrum. AERO and VELO emissions will end when the portals open. Transfers and trading are scheduled to begin at the same time.

Existing AERO will convert to new AERO at a one-to-one rate. Each VELO will convert to about 0.044 AERO. The rate is based on projected supplies of about 1.99 billion AERO and 2.63 billion VELO. Aerodrome holders will receive 94.5% of the new token supply, while Velodrome holders will receive 5.5%.

Holders who keep AERO, VELO, veAERO or veVELO in self-custody must claim unpaid rewards and rebases and clear active votes before upgrading. Unclaimed rewards and rebases will not be recoverable after the upgrade. The process requires ETH for network fees: ETH on Base for Aerodrome assets and ETH on OP Mainnet for Velodrome assets.

VELO held as xVELO must first be bridged back to OP Mainnet. Holders whose veNFTs took part in the final voting epoch can begin upgrading one hour after launch, at 01:00 UTC on Oct. 22.

Locked veAERO and veVELO positions will convert into sAERO, the staked form of the new token. Remaining lock periods will be rounded up to the next full week. Permanent locks will become maximum-duration stakes.

Under the new system, sAERO holders can direct AERO rewards to liquidity pools in real time and receive exchange revenue as it accrues. Initial allocation changes will have a 47-hour cooldown.

Aerodrome is a trading and liquidity platform on Base, while Velodrome operates on Optimism. Both were developed by Dromos Labs using related code. The merger will combine their operations in one exchange across seven networks.

The final voting round is scheduled to close at 6:59 p.m. ET on Oct. 21, one hour before the upgrade portals open. Aero’s new token contract address will be published through the project’s official channels on launch day. Holders should verify the address before approving transactions.

Binance confirmed on Oct. 16 that it will support the swap for its users.