Aero Sets Oct. 21 Merger Launch and Token Conversion Terms

Aero goes live on October 21, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT. That is October 22 at 00:00 UTC, which matters if you are watching the epoch flip from outside the United States.

The launch update from Aero's own team confirms the date and the chain list. The conversion terms are the part that decides what you hold afterwards, and they are not the same for both tokens.

Take off: October 21, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT (October 22, 00:00 UTC).

The plan goes back to November 12, 2025, when Dromos Labs first revealed the merger, with the goal of folding Aerodrome and Velodrome liquidity and governance into one DEX under the Aero name.

Seven Chains on Day One

Base, Ethereum Mainnet, Robinhood, Arc, OP Mainnet, Arbitrum and Ink all get a full Aero deployment at launch. Robinhood Chain and Arbitrum were added late, joining the five chains already on the list.

AERO Rewards stream across all seven and are directed by sAERO holders through Predictive Allocation.

Aero's home base is Base. The launch update notes the chains Aerodrome and Velodrome currently serve account for about 17% of EVM spot trading volume, and Aero says the launch should roughly triple that. That is Aero's own estimate, not a measured figure.

AERO Converts One for One, VELO Does Not

If you hold AERO, the math is simple. One old AERO becomes one new AERO.

VELO is where it gets less neat. Aero's own summary puts the rate at roughly 0.044 new AERO per VELO, and Coinbase states the same approximate rate for balances it migrates.

Neither one is the final number. Aero says the exact ratio depends on Velodrome's total supply at launch, and that the precise math would be published closer to migration. Treat 0.044 as an estimate until that page appears.

The supply split explains why. New AERO is divided 94.5% to AERO and veAERO holders and 5.5% to VELO and veVELO holders. Aerodrome positions migrate 1:1, so the total Aero supply works out to Aerodrome's total supply at launch divided by 0.945. Velodrome's supply migrates into that fixed 5.5% bucket, which means the VELO rate moves with Velodrome's total supply on launch day.

Why VELO Gets 5.5% of the New Supply

The split follows revenue. Aero sizes the two circles by the value each community brought into the merger: $260 million for Aerodrome and $15 million for Velodrome over the 52 weeks before the plan was announced. That window is the basis for the 94.5% and 5.5% division.

Both communities receive 100% of the initial AERO supply. Aero says all positions, including team, Foundation and retail, migrate the same way at the same rate.

What Coinbase Will Do, and When

Coinbase announced support for the conversion on October 1, 2026, and set the migration window at three days, November 2 through November 4, 2026.

• AERO balances convert 1:1, with no transaction fees.
• All VELO held on Coinbase converts at approximately 0.044 AERO per VELO, also fee-free.
• No action is required from holders.

Two exceptions are worth knowing. If you do not want your AERO converted, move it to a compatible self-custody wallet before November 2, 2026. And AERO and VELO sends and receives are both disabled on Coinbase from November 2 to 4. After the migration, Coinbase will no longer support deposits of the legacy AERO token.

VELO trading does not stop all at once. It first moves to limit-only mode, where resting orders can be placed but not executed instantly against the book. After that, VELO trading is disabled entirely.

Two Details That Change Your Ratio

Migration happens in a single epoch. Once the epoch flips on both Aerodrome and Velodrome, migration for liquid and locked positions goes live and the Aero migration supply becomes fixed.

There is no deadline. But Aerodrome and Velodrome run on immutable contracts, so veAERO and veVELO keep receiving rebases after later epoch flips. Each rebase adds tokens to your old position, which lowers your individual migration ratio even though your ownership of the new protocol stays the same.

One practical step: veAERO and veVELO positions will be burned and entirely new positions minted. That means new token and NFT IDs. If your position sits inside another contract, you have to withdraw it before you can migrate.

Aero said more resources are coming in the weeks before launch, including a launch week timeline and guidance for LPs, liquid tokenholders and veNFT holders. The exact VELO math is the piece still missing. Until Aero publishes it, 0.044 is the number to plan around, not the number to rely on.