Aero launches unified protocol, converting each VELO into 0.044 new AERO
Key Facts
Aero announced the launch of its unified protocol combining Aerodrome and Velodrome, setting the launch for midnight on 22 October 2026 UTC, with each VELO converted into 0.044 of the new AERO token. The transition also upgrades the existing AERO token to a new contract, with 1 new token for each old token, according to the project's official upgrade portal. The transition thus brings holders of both protocols' tokens under a unified token, with a different conversion ratio for each. Balances held in self-custody wallets must be converted through the upgrade portal provided by the project. Balances on centralized exchanges are subject to each exchange's migration schedule. The token unification is accompanied by changes to reward allocation and liquidity pool revenue distribution.
Aero estimated the expected maximum supply at launch at about 2.127 billion AERO, with the entire initial supply allocated to the existing Aerodrome and Velodrome communities. The Aerodrome community's share is 94.5%, equivalent to 2.01 billion tokens, according to the supply breakdown published on the upgrade portal. The Velodrome community receives 5.5%, equivalent to 117 million AERO. In its clarification of the allocation, the project said, "100% of the initial AERO supply goes to the existing Aerodrome and Velodrome communities." Regarding circulating supply, Binance announced that it would increase after the transition from 1 billion to 1.07 billion tokens. Binance's estimate relates to the amount in circulation after the transition, while the project's estimate concerns the expected maximum supply at launch.
On rewards, veAERO and veVELO positions convert into sAERO positions as part of the transition to the new protocol, according to Aero's announcement. The model ties entitlement to a pool's revenue to sAERO holders actually allocating AERO rewards to that pool. The project said, "100% of it flows to position holders who actively support the pool by allocating AERO." This revenue is distributed among supporters in proportion to their allocations to the relevant pool. The system allows liquidity providers to choose to earn trading fees instead of AERO rewards. It also replaces the previous voting and distribution cycles with continuous revenue allocation and distribution. Aero summed up the change by saying: "No voting, no epochs, and no delay between revenue accrual and distribution."
The protocol launch spans Base, Ethereum mainnet, Robinhood, Arc, Optimism mainnet, Arbitrum and Ink, according to the project's launch update. MetaSwaps enables token swaps across networks in a single step through a unified interface. These swaps rely on on-chain liquidity rather than off-chain counterparties, according to Aero's description of the service. Slipstream, meanwhile, adjusts the fee for each swap according to prevailing market conditions and demand. On reward issuance, the system sets caps linking each pool's rewards to its expected revenue. In its presentation of the economic model, the project said these caps set the maximum reward rate, aiming to prevent unnecessary AERO issuance.
The transition arrangements also include moving some existing liquidity positions to new pools. Mezo said liquidity providers in the USDC/MUSD and MEZO/MUSD pools on Base need to move their positions to a new pool on Aero. Among exchanges, Coinbase set the period from 2 to 4 November 2026 to migrate Aerodrome and Velodrome balances to the new AERO token. Its announcement covers AERO and VELO balances as part of the migration to the unified token. It also announced that AERO sends and receives would be temporarily disabled during the same period. Under Binance's schedule, the exchange will remove all VELODROME spot trading pairs, including VELODROME/USDT, on 3 November 2026 at 03:00 UTC. It will cancel all pending spot orders for the token at the same time, according to its transition announcement.