News

4 min read

Aerodrome Finance Explained: Why It’s Trending And How To Use It

Last Updated

Jun 17, 2025

Share on

Written by

Crypto Cybersecurity & Web3 Reporting

Aerodrome Finance is the leading AMM on Coinbase’s Base L2, pairing fast, low‑cost swaps with a vote‑escrow (veAERO) model that channels emissions and trading fees to active governors, driving liquidity, incentives, and rapid user growth.

Dominant on Base: Over 50% TVL, $100B+ volume and Coinbase app integration accelerate liquidity, user adoption, and protocol visibility.
Governance equals cash flow: veAERO holders vote weekly to direct AERO emissions and receive 100% of fees plus bribes, aligning incentives across traders, LPs, and voters.
Practical value for users: Fast, cheap swaps, multiple pool types and boosted incentives let traders and LPs capture fees, emissions, and airdrop bonuses.

Open In:

Claude Chat Gpt Perplexity Grok Gemini

Aerodrome Finance is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Coinbase’s Base blockchain. Launched in August 2023, it quickly became the leading liquidity hub on Base by offering users a fast, cheap, and incentive-driven platform to trade, stake, and earn rewards.

This article explains Aerodrome, how it works, how users can get started, and why it’s trending in June 2025. We’ll also compare it with popular DEXs on other chains like Uniswap, Raydium, and Orca.

Get a boosted airdrop from @AerodromeFi with Coinbase One.

Aerodrome is the top exchange on @base, with token lockers voting and earning rewards weekly.

Users who create a new lock of 2500+ veAERO qualify for a bonus airdrop—and Coinbase One members receive a 1.3x boost. pic.twitter.com/eumL39UOfN

— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) June 16, 2025

How Aerodrome Finance works

Aerodrome is an automated market maker (AMM) that allows users to swap tokens using liquidity pools rather than order books. Users trade against pooled assets, and prices adjust algorithmically based on the token ratio in the pool.

There are three types of pools:

Volatile pools for unpegged assets (like ETH/USDC).
Stable pools for pegged tokens (like USDC/DAI).
Slipstream pools, a variant of concentrated liquidity similar to Uniswap v3, where liquidity is placed within defined price ranges.

Aerodrome is built on Base, an Ethereum Layer-2 network developed by Coinbase. Transactions are fast (around two seconds) and cheap (a few cents in gas fees paid in ETH).

Key features

Vote-escrow tokenomics

Aerodrome uses a dual-token model:

AERO is the main token, earned by liquidity providers and used to participate in governance.
veAERO is a non-transferable token received when users lock AERO for up to four years. The longer the lock, the more voting power they get.

Most "governance" tokens are just disguised emissions pumps. You vote once a quarter—maybe.
But you earn… nothing.
No yield. No share of the revenue. No reason to hold.$veAERO is one of the few with a working flywheel where governance = cash flow.
Here’s why:
• @AerodromeFi… pic.twitter.com/KLth6lJ8Zf

— Mars_DeFi (@Mars_DeFi) June 17, 2025

veAERO holders vote weekly on which liquidity pools receive AERO emissions. In return, they receive:

100% of trading fees from pools they vote for
Additional bribes (incentives) offered by protocols seeking liquidity

This model creates a self-reinforcing loop between traders, LPs, and governance participants.

Liquidity incentives

Liquidity providers earn:

A share of trading fees (if routed through governance).
AERO emissions from pools that receive votes.
Optional additional incentives (bribes) if voted by veAERO holders.

Users can view all available pools, see their APRs , and deposit liquidity in pairs like ETH/USDC or AERO/USDC.

Fast and low-cost swaps

Aerodrome benefits from Base’s high throughput and low gas fees. Stable swaps often cost less than 0.04% in trading fees, and volatile pools typically range around 0.2% or lower.

How to use Aerodrome Finance

1. Connect your wallet

Use MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, or any WalletConnect-compatible wallet. Ensure it’s set to the Base network.

2. Swap tokens

Navigate to the swap interface, choose the input and output tokens, set your slippage tolerance, and confirm the transaction. Swaps usually settle in seconds.

3. Provide liquidity

Choose a liquidity pool and deposit equal USD value of each token. You’ll receive LP tokens and start earning yield immediately.

4. Lock AERO to get veAERO

Lock AERO tokens for one week to four years to receive veAERO. Use it to vote on gauges (liquidity incentives) and earn trading fees and bribes.

Why AERO is trending in June 2025

Aerodrome Finance has been trending across crypto communities in June 2025 due to a series of high-profile developments:

Coinbase app integration: Coinbase began rolling out DEX features on its main app, allowing direct access to Aerodrome and other Base DEXs. This opened Aerodrome to over 10 million monthly active users.
Massive growth metrics: Aerodrome surpassed $100billion in cumulative trading volume and consistently ranks as the top DEX on Base.
Token holder surge: AERO wallet count jumped from around 200,000 in January to over 630,000 in June.
Market rally: AERO’s price spiked by 35% in one day after the Coinbase integration news.

Highlights From The Last Week 👇
• $100B in volume in 2025 YTD
• Aerodrome leads all cbAssets onchain
• @Coinbase is integrating DEXs on @base
• New Arrivals ✈️: $HOME $MOCA $KING $APU $BIOS $SOLACE $REZ

— Aerodrome (@AerodromeFi) June 14, 2025

These milestones helped solidify Aerodrome as the most dominant DEX on Base, drawing attention from both traders and DeFi builders.

Aerodrome vs other DEXs

Feature	Aerodrome (Base)	Uniswap v3 (Base)	Raydium (Solana)	Orca (Solana)
AMM type	Volatile, stable, v3	Concentrated only	Classic + CLMM	Classic + CLMM
Incentives	AERO emissions + fees + bribes	No native rewards	Yield farms, buybacks	ORCA rewards
Token model	veAERO (vote-escrow)	UNI (governance only)	RAY (staking, buybacks)	ORCA (basic rewards)
Trading fees	0.01%–0.2%	0.05%+	0.25%	0.3%
Gas fees	Low (Base, ETH gas)	Low (Base, ETH gas)	Very low (Solana)	Very low (Solana)
Ecosystem integration	Base-native, supported by Coinbase	Neutral deployment	Solana-native, Jupiter routed	Solana-native
Governance control	Community via veAERO	Global UNI holders	Team-led	Team-led
Fee distribution	100% to veAERO voters	LPs (no UNI revenue)	LPs + treasury	LPs
Dominance on chain	Yes (over 50% Base TVL)	Competing with Aerodrome	Top Solana DEX	Mid-size Solana DEX

Final thoughts

Aerodrome Finance combines efficient trading with a unique governance-driven reward system that empowers its community. With strong liquidity, a growing user base, and Coinbase’s backing via Base, it is well-positioned as a foundational piece of Base’s DeFi ecosystem.

For beginners, Aerodrome offers a smooth entry into DeFi: start by swapping tokens or providing liquidity, and once comfortable, explore locking AERO to participate in governance and earn protocol fees. As the Base ecosystem matures, Aerodrome is likely to remain its most important DeFi primitive.

Mohammad Shahid is an experienced crypto writer focusing on cybersecurity, where blockchains, wallets, and the wider Web3 stack meet real-world threats.

He covers everything from protocol design and DeFi exploits to retail adoption and market narratives, translating security research and incident reports into transparent, actionable journalism. Having worked inside multiple start-ups and ICO teams, he brings firsthand understanding of founder incentives, token mechanics, and go-to-market realities to every piece.

At CryptoManiaks, Mohammad blends newsroom pace with an analyst’s rigor to explain complex topics, spotlight attack surfaces, and help readers navigate crypto safely and confidently.

About the Author

Was this article helpful?