Aero aims to become the leading onchain spot exchange for tokenized stocks, CEO says
RWA Signal Insight
InfrastructureAero has launched as a unified decentralized exchange across seven blockchain networks, consolidating the previously separate Aerodrome and Velodrome platforms. Led by Dromos Labs CEO Alex Cutler, the project aims to become the primary onchain spot market for tokenized stocks and other financial assets. By leveraging a unified liquidity incentive system, Aero seeks to replicate the market dominance of traditional exchanges like the NYSE or Nasdaq within the decentralized finance ecosystem. The platform operates on Ethereum, Base, OP Mainnet, Arbitrum, Arc, Ink, and Robinhood Chain, targeting a share of the $120 billion in monthly volume handled by these networks. This consolidation is significant for the RWA market because it addresses the critical need for deep, centralized spot liquidity to support 24/7 trading of tokenized securities. Aerodrome previously captured 55% of tokenized stock trading volume on Ethereum and its layer 2s, demonstrating the potential for this incentive-driven model. By distributing all exchange revenue to staked AERO holders, the platform intends to attract liquidity providers away from competing protocols to ensure robust price discovery.
Key points
- Aero launched across seven blockchains, consolidating Aerodrome and Velodrome into a single exchange.
- Aerodrome previously captured 55% of tokenized stock trading volume on Ethereum and L2s.
- The platform operates on Ethereum, Base, OP Mainnet, Arbitrum, Arc, Ink, and Robinhood Chain.
- Aero aims to double its share of onchain spot trading volume by year-end.
Background
Aerodrome and Velodrome are decentralized exchanges built on the ve(3,3) model, which uses governance tokens to incentivize liquidity providers. These protocols allow users to stake tokens to vote on reward distributions, effectively directing liquidity toward specific trading pairs. This mechanism is frequently used to bootstrap deep liquidity for new assets, including tokenized real-world securities.