Aerodrome Finance (AERO) Faces a Sharp Retreat Amid Merger Uncertainty

The price of Aerodrome Finance’s native token, AERO, has slipped back into the $0.8 range on Thursday, 13 November 2025, after a brief rally that had seen the token approach $1.20 earlier in the week. Market participants cite a combination of profit‑taking, concerns over possible token dilution, and a broader bearish environment that has swept through the crypto markets.

Merger Announcement Drives Volatility

The root of the turbulence lies in the announcement from Dromos Labs that Aerodrome (AERO) on the Base network and Velodrome (VELO) on Optimism will be merged into a single, cross‑chain decentralized exchange, simply called Aero. The new platform will operate on Base, Optimism, the OP Superchain, and eventually expand to the Ethereum network.

Under the merger terms, holders of the existing tokens will receive a weighted distribution of the new supply:

  • 94.5 % of the new token supply will be allocated to current AERO holders, and
  • 5.5 % will go to VELO holders.

The announcement triggered a coordinated sell‑off: both AERO and VELO dropped roughly 20 % within hours of the news. The market’s reaction was further amplified by an environment of extreme fear, as Bitcoin’s decline dragged the Fear‑and‑Greed Index to 15, the lowest reading in eight months, and pushed the altcoin season index down to 29 points.

Technical Outlook

Short‑term analysis points to a potential downward correction to $0.827 and $0.74. The close price on 13 November was $0.825156, reflecting a modest dip from the 52‑week high of $2.33 (reached on 6 December 2024) and still well above the 52‑week low of $0.2826 (4 April 2025). With a market capitalization of roughly $743 million, the token remains exposed to volatility stemming from macro‑market sentiment and platform‑specific developments.

Broader Market Context

The broader crypto market has experienced a consolidation phase. Bitcoin hovered near $103 k, while Ethereum steadied, yet altcoins suffered sharper pullbacks. The overall digital‑assets market fell by about 1.5 % in the last 24 hours, though trading volume rose 7 % to $173 billion. In this climate, the announcement of a merger and the resulting dilution concerns have amplified AERO’s price decline.

Looking Ahead

The success of the Aero platform will depend on several factors: the execution of the merger, the ability to attract liquidity across the supported chains, and the response of the existing AERO community to the new token distribution. In the near term, traders should watch for further price consolidation around the $0.8 level, while monitoring developments in the broader DeFi space, such as Uniswap’s recent fee‑switch proposal that could reshape trading‑fee flows and impact liquidity providers across the ecosystem.