Quick answer: The Aerodrome Velodrome merger launches on Oct. 22, 2026, at 00:00 UTC (Oct. 21, 8 p.m. EDT), per the official Aero upgrade hub. AERO converts 1:1 and VELO at about 0.044 AERO. AERO traded at $0.968 at 10:50 UTC on Oct. 11, up 13.5% in 24 hours (CoinGecko).
The Aerodrome Velodrome merger is now 10 days away, and traders are pricing it in. AERO rose 13.5% in 24 hours to about $0.97 on Sunday, while bitcoin and ether barely moved.
At 10:50 UTC on Oct. 11, 2026, AERO traded at $0.9676, according to CoinGecko. That puts its market cap near $972 million. The token is up 74% over 30 days and about 140% from its Aug. 3 low of $0.40. Even so, it remains 58% below its $2.32 record from December 2024. Over the same day, bitcoin gained only 0.15% to $82,907.
What happened: Aero sets the launch terms
On Oct. 9, the team behind both exchanges published an upgrade and launch hub. It fixes the date. Aero goes live on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. EDT, which is 00:00 UTC on Oct. 22. At that moment, emissions on Aerodrome and Velodrome stop, and new AERO emissions start.
The swap terms are simple. Each AERO becomes one new AERO. Each VELO becomes about 0.044 AERO. Locked veAERO and veVELO positions turn into sAERO, a staked token, and keep their remaining lock time. TokenPost and Cryptonews reported the same rates and timing.
The plan was first announced in November 2025 and was meant to launch in the second quarter of 2026, TokenPost notes. So the date slipped by several months. Now, though, it is firm.
Why the Aerodrome Velodrome merger matters
The deal turns two sister exchanges into one liquidity layer across seven chains: Base, Ethereum, OP Mainnet, Arc, Ink, Robinhood Chain and Arbitrum. One token, AERO, will steer rewards on all of them.
The split is lopsided, and the data shows why. Aerodrome holders get 94.5% of the new supply and Velodrome holders get 5.5%. According to the Aero FAQ, that mirrors the value each exchange produced in the year before the announcement: $260 million for Aerodrome against $15 million for Velodrome.
Today the gap is even wider. DefiLlama data shows $3.55 billion of trading on Aerodrome over the past seven days. Velodrome handled about $120 million. In other words, Aerodrome now does about 97% of the combined volume, yet VELO holders still receive 5.5% of the new token. Aerodrome also holds about $398 million in deposits, against roughly $41 million on Velodrome.
The move also changes how rewards work. Weekly voting ends. Instead, sAERO holders direct rewards to pools in real time and earn a share of those pools’ revenue. Each position can change its allocation only once every 47 hours at launch.
The data: is the AERO jump about the merger?
Partly, but the arbitrage tells a clear story. The new AERO supply will be about 2.11 billion tokens, and 116 million of them go to VELO holders. At 0.044 AERO per VELO, one VELO should be worth about $0.0426 today.
VELO traded at $0.0424 at 10:51 UTC on CoinGecko, up 14.3% on the day. So it sits just 0.5% below its conversion value. On Oct. 10, Crypto Watch Desk calculated a 1.3% discount. As a result, the two tokens now trade almost as one asset, and the gap has nearly closed.
Meanwhile, Aerodrome’s core business remains strong. Daily volume has stayed between roughly $300 million and $700 million through October. That base is a key reason buyers are betting on the combined exchange. Base also hosts fast-growing markets, such as the tokenized stock trading we covered on Oct. 10.
What holders must do before Oct. 21
Nothing converts automatically. In addition, the upgrade cannot be reversed. These are the key steps and dates from the official hub:
- Oct. 15: bridge any xVELO on other chains back to OP Mainnet, and deposit final incentives before the epoch flip.
- Oct. 20: pull veNFTs out of Relays, vaults and other protocols.
- Oct. 21, 22:59 UTC: final voting closes on both exchanges.
- Oct. 22, 00:00 UTC: upgrade portals open on aerodrome.finance and velodrome.finance. Locks that voted in the final round wait until 01:00 UTC.
You will need a wallet that supports Base and a little ETH for fees. VELO holders upgrade on OP Mainnet, and their new AERO arrives on Base. Liquidity providers who stay in old pools stop earning rewards once emissions end. Exchange users do not need to act, because each exchange runs its own conversion.
What to watch next
First, watch for scams. Aero says the new contract addresses will appear on its public GitHub and official channels on launch day. Fake upgrade sites tend to appear right then, so check our guide on how to spot crypto scams before you sign anything.
Second, watch liquidity on Oct. 22. If large deposits fail to move to Aero pools, the new rewards would spread thinly. Third, watch the 47-hour cooldown and the first Autopilot allocation at 16:00 UTC on Oct. 22.
Finally, keep the risks in view. Rallies built on one event often fade once it passes. Our guide to DeFi risks explains what can go wrong with smart contracts and token incentives.
Aerodrome Velodrome merger FAQ
When does the Aerodrome Velodrome merger happen?
Aero launches on Oct. 21, 2026, at 8 p.m. EDT, which is 00:00 UTC on Oct. 22. Emissions on both old exchanges stop at that time, and the upgrade portals open, per the official Aero upgrade hub.
How much AERO do I get for VELO?
Each VELO converts to about 0.044 new AERO, and each AERO converts 1:1. The VELO rate gives Velodrome holders 5.5% of the roughly 2.11 billion new AERO supply. The final figure can shift slightly with supply at launch.
Is there a deadline to upgrade AERO or VELO?
There is no set deadline, Aero says. However, rewards on the old exchanges end at launch, and the old websites may close later. The upgrade is permanent and cannot be undone.
This article is for information only. Not financial advice; DYOR.
Sources
- Aero upgrade and launch hub, Aero
- Aero FAQ, Aerodrome Foundation
- Aerodrome, Velodrome merger set to start Oct. 21, TokenPost
- Aero sets Oct. 21 merger launch and token conversion terms, Cryptonews
- Aero upgrade Oct. 21: VELO converts at about 0.044 AERO, Crypto Watch Desk
- Aerodrome (AERO) price data, CoinGecko
- Velodrome (VELO) price data, CoinGecko
- Aerodrome volume and TVL, DefiLlama
- Velodrome volume and TVL, DefiLlama
