Aerodrome (AERO)

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Aerodrome is the central decentralized exchange and liquidity hub of Base, Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 network. It uses a 've(3,3)' model — a design where users lock the AERO token to receive voting power, then vote each week to direct token rewards (emissions) toward the liquidity pools they want to support. In return, voters earn the trading fees and incentives from the pools they back, aligning rewards with the liquidity the ecosystem actually needs.

This mechanism makes Aerodrome the place where much of Base's liquidity is coordinated, so new projects often build their markets there first. Built by the team behind Velodrome (the equivalent hub on the Optimism network), it launched alongside Base's growth and quickly became one of its highest-volume and highest-TVL protocols. The AERO token sits at the center of this flywheel of locking, voting, fees and emissions.

Its fortunes are closely tied to Base's overall activity, making it a kind of bellwether for the chain. For newcomers, think of Aerodrome as Base's main marketplace and liquidity engine, with AERO as the token that steers where rewards flow.