Animoca Brands<\/a>, one of Asia’s top web3 game development and investment firms, has acquired an undisclosed amount of Base-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Aerodrome<\/a>\u2019s AERO token. The price of AERO surged over 10% on the news yesterday.<\/p>\n In an X thread<\/a> on Oct. 28, Animoca Brands said it had bought AERO at market prices and \u201cmax-locked as veAERO,\u201d a mechanism that allows token holders to lock their AERO for a set period in exchange for voting power and long-term staking rewards.<\/p>\n The firm added that the decision reflected Aerodrome\u2019s emergence as a \u201ckey component in the engine\u201d driving DeFi growth on Coinbase\u2019s Ethereum Layer 2, Base<\/a>. Aerodrome is an automated market maker (AMM) on Base, and currently holds the spot as the largest DEX<\/a> on the network by trading volume, though just marginally beating Uniswap on the daily and weekly timeframes. <\/p>\n \u201cWith sustainable tokenomics for AERO and the team\u2019s ability to execute, Aerodrome has proven its standing as a key player in Base infrastructure,\u201d Animoca Brands said in the X thread.<\/p>\n Following the announcement, AERO surged, briefly breaking through the $1 mark, according to CoinGecko<\/a>. However, the token remains 58% below its all-time high of $2.32, set in early December 2024.<\/p>\n Despite the price jump, the total value locked in Aerodrome has been steadily falling, from just over $1 billion in early 2025 to around $553 million at press time, marking a 45% drop, according to data<\/a> from DefiLlama.<\/p>\n![\"the-defiant\"](\"https:\/\/thedefiant.io\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.thedefiant.io%2Fpasted-1761765919065-png-7bf6a51d-cbe2-4d67-96cd-bb3b1e1afcc4.png&w=2048&q=100\"\/)