Another interesting Flywheel in motion between an NFT collection and their token.
For context:
- 960 Ethernal NFTs in total
- 1 Billion $Check
- Ethernal NFTs have 10% of the total $Check allocation
- 10% of which was unlocked at TGE, meaning each NFT still has 90% of their tokens locked to them.
- The remaining 90% will be distributed monthly for the next 9 months - Starting December
- Royalties are being used for now to buy back and Lock the NFTs for 10 years (Yes you read that right, 10 years!!)
- As of today, 24 Ethernals have been purchased, representing 2.5% of the total collection.
- That also means 1,296,000 $CHECK removed from circulation.
- In future fees from LPing can also be used to send Ethernals into the Void
- $Aero incentives bring in a broader audience and allows for rewards in a different token
How this is different from what @token_works has designed with their Strategy tokens.
In general I am a fan of the flywheel they have designed:
Context:
- Fungible token with built in tax system
- Tax used to buy NFTs and list at a higher price, normally either at a 10% or 20% premium
- Once that re-listed NFT is sold, the funds generated are used to buy back Strategy token and burn, reducing supply
- NFT floor price increases over time.
This is an awesome flywheel in a Bull market, when numbers go up!
Unfortunately the flywheel is ineffective in a bear market, as we have seen recently:
- NFT prices are well below their floor from a few weeks ago (especially Bluechips)
- Majority of the strategy treasuries holding the NFTs are at a loss right now (Buy price vs floor price, also Eth is down..)
-For the majority of strategy listed NFTs, there is a big difference between list price (Higher) and floor price (lower) in most cases
- In current conditions, the flywheel stops working as there will be little to no purchases of Strategy listed NFTs
- In turn this means there are no STR based tokens being burned resulting in little incentive to hold
With that said, if you are bullish on NFTs and their tokens making a comeback, you could argue now is the best time to build a position for when liquidity finds its way back into NFTs and their ecosystems.
Everything in this post is my opinion and does not represent any form of financial advice.
Disclosure: I do hold some Strategy tokens and will be looking to add more in the current market.
A single exchange––one that unifies liquidity, connects every network, and powers applications everywhere.
One that can infinitely scale horizontally & vertically.
With MetaDEX03 we finally have the OS to make that vision a reality:
Introducing Aero.
Coming soon to @ethereum.
aerodrome controls 53% of base's $4.7b defi tvl through ve(3,3) mechanics. protocols stopped burning treasuries on mercenary farms and started accumulating veaero positions instead. 45% of aero supply locked for average 2.8 years. seamless extra inverse moonwell all building permanent voting power. $2m-4m weekly bribes generating 35-45% apr from real fees not inflation. protocols get $3-8 liquidity value per $1 in bribes. aero at $1.30 trading 12x fees vs uniswap at 25x.
Metadex03: The @AerodromeFi evolution of onchain exchange Infrastructure
@DromosLabs just shipped what might be the most comprehensive DEX update this cycle.
This isn't a UI refresh or a minor optimization. This is a fundamental architectural upgrade that changes AMM economics, institutional-grade onchain trading and revenue distribution.
The basics: DEXes capture up to 1.5b revenue.
Let's start with the baseline. Exchanges, as a business category, sit at ~$1.5B in value creation.
The question Metadex03 answers is simple: what happens when you build that infrastructure 100% onchain, with native composability and algorithmic optimization?
The answer is: you get something that looks nothing like traditional DEX economics.
Revenue engine: From single stream to ecosystem play.
Metadex02's limitation was architectural. Revenue came from three sources: liquidity fees, launch payments, trading fees.
Metadex03 reverses this: introducing REV and AER
REV: capturing more revenue
• DEX aggregator fees
• Cross-chain bridging
• Liquidity management services
• Frontend fees
• Secondary marketplace
• Auto-compounder mechanisms
• Token launches
• Trading fees
All of this revenue is shared in one or another way (weekly rewards, buybacks and burns) with $AERO lockers.
AER: algorithmic reward optimization
This is where it gets interesting. Dromos built a system that continuously changes LP rewards based on onchain market dynamics in real-time.
Optimized Rewards: The system maintains Metadex03's reward APY consistently higher than competitor DEXes. Backtesting shows up to 50% higher rewards than alternatives.
Surging Rewards: The system simultaneously reduces emissions so you're not just printing tokens to pay LPs. It caps overpayment and normalizes reward distribution.
The math on AER and REV is incredible:
Revenue increase: +40% (REV engine)
Emissions decrease: -25% (AER engine)
Result: 2.8x more value creation for token operators.
Current inflation is 5.7% accounting for locks. With Metadex03, it drops to 85% lower than current levels.
Last year for reference: $258M revenue against $184M net emissions. That's $74M net value. With both engines running? $211M net revenue.
Slipstream V3: Improved AMM Infrastructure
Internal MEV Auction: Allows MEVs to bid for a no fee swap, generating additional revenue.
This could drive additional tens of millions in annualized revenue shared with token operators.
Institutional Economics: Citadel and Robinhood style?
• Fee rebates for institutional volume
• Orderflow payment mechanisms
• Superior execution guarantees at all times
• KYC-verified institutional pools
This changes the narrative. Institutions aren't choosing between onchain and TradFi liquidity anymore.
Supporting Infrastructure
Metaswaps: Cross-chain aggregator optimized across the entire EVM. Not another bridge. Not another wrapped token solution. An aggregator that thinks systemically about cross-chain execution.
Autopilot uptade: Now optimizes voting across all pools, claims from any chain, compounds automatically, or swaps to any asset.
The Unification (lol): Aero, the unified network
Velodrome and Aerodrome are merging. One token. One network. One unified liquidity layer across the entire EVM.
The new ticker: $AERO.
New playing field Ethereum
Let's look at what this means economically:
• Before: $5B TVL split across Base and Optimism superchain. $55B monthly trading volume.
• After: Targeting $75B TVL across Ethereum mainnet and all connected chains. $200B+ monthly trading volume.
Launching becomes trivial
• Deploy in one minute directly on Aero. No complex setup. No deployment delays.
• Automatic graduated rewards. Fresh launches immediately qualify for Aero incentive mechanisms.
• Your pool builds liquidity organically.
• No hidden fees. Everything is transparent and onchain.
For projects, this becomes the default launchpad. For LPs, this becomes the default ecosystem to find the highest-quality launches with native Aero rewards.
Value Consolidation: Single Token, All Revenue
Every revenue stream, from every protocol, every chain, every interactio flows back to $AERO
This solves the problem that plagued DeFi tokenomics: fragmentation. You're not spread across five tokens trying to capture value. You're all-in on a network that captures everything.
The momentum fund: Market stabilization through mechanism design
Dromos is building automated token stability mechanism. The Momentum Fund operates a countercyclical buyback and burn:
• When $AERO dips: Buy back tokens from the market.
• When $AERO rallies: Burn tokens from the treasury
The math compounds: with the Momentum Fund, projected net value for token operators increases from $211M (Metadex03 alone) to $294M.
That's a 3.9x multiplier on token holder value vs. current economics (note: these projections are backtested)
Timeline and Home Base
Q2 2026 launch. Base remains the home of Aero.
By then, Metadex03 will have been live. You'll have real-world data on REV and AER engine performance. Institutional integrations will be established.
You are not holding enough $AERO
Congratulations to @jack_anorak@wagmiAlexander and whole @DromosLabs team for this banger of an event!
Epoch 114 Recap ✈️
Last epoch $AERO Locks once again exceeded $AERO Emissions, functionally reducing circulating supply for the 3rd straight week:
📈 $4.4B+ in total volume
🗳️ $2.9M+ distributed in voting rewards
💱 $3.8M+ in swap fees
🔒 1M More $AERO locked than emitted
Retire on $black
Episode 4 "Crap O La"
Welp this week's rewards while excellent from an investment perspective weren't enough to support the family this week.
Careful considerations must be made, but I'm tempted to lever up and nearly double my voting power. 😎
@BlackholeDex did add another 9m veBlack to Escape Velocity Season 4. I've gotta take advantage somehow.
After epoch 14 ends, the protocol will be entering the next phase of emissions: Accretion Disk
During Phase 2 token distribution will gradually decrease by 1% each epoch until epoch 66 - helping manage inflation and focus long term sustainability
AVAX IS NUCLEAR
🔺44M+ smart contracts deployed!
🔺 Growth is insane since April
Avalanche is leading the charge in Web3!
If you’re not watching $AVAX, you’re missing the next big wave.
Epoch 109 Recap ✈️
Aerodrome swap fees reached the $150M mark this year as epoch 109 came to a close. Here are the numbers 👇
📈 $4.7B+ in total volume
🗳️ $3.8M+ distributed in voting rewards
💱 $3.8M+ in swap fees
🔵 50%+ of all DEX volume on Base
Locked Tokens = Locked In ✈️
🔒 ~49% of $AERO supply locked
📅 Average lock duration: 3.75 years
♾ ~95% of locks are auto-max locked
✅ 28,000+ $veAERO holders
🗳️ $400M+ distributed to voters to date