Explosive 3000% Growth: Why AERO Has Caught Smart Money’s Eye

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Olga Primakova

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Olga Primakova

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Olga started writing about cryptocurrency and finance in 2021.

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena is the Features Lead at Cryptonews.com. With a Master's degree in science journalism from City University, London, she is passionate about exploring complex topics in the world of technology.

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Last updated: 

December 29, 2025

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Key Takeaways:

• Aerodrome surged 3139% in 2024, attracting smart money like Coinbase Ventures.
• User activity grew nearly 800%, fueled by Base’s success.
• Strong revenue and whale interest position AERO for future growth.

Aerodrome Finance (AERO) gained over 3000% in 2024, and whales have been actively accumulating tokens since September—is it time to buy?

CoinGecko summarized the results of 2024, showing what became number one in the crypto market this year. Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) took the absolute lead among the top gainers, with a price increase of 23,079%. Earlier, we wrote about what is behind the project’s success and whether this will continue.

Meme coins follow closely as one of the most discussed topics in recent months: Brett (BRETT), Popcat (POPCAT), and Mog Coin (MOG). Among them is a new project, MANTRA (OM), with a growth of 6418% over the year.

Next in line are the top five gainers in the crypto market, led by Aerodrome, which saw a price surge of 3,139%, even surpassing Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) and Pepe (PEPE).

Despite its strong performance, Aerodrome hasn’t generated as much buzz or calls to buy as some other projects, even though it ranks as one of the top revenue-generating protocols. It secured 7th place among protocols by YTD revenue, generating $235.32 million, trailing behind Sky (SKY) and Solana (SOL).

Amid Aerodrome’s success in the crypto market, smart money, including Coinbase Ventures, has started adding AERO to their portfolios.

In September, crypto researcher Slappjakke noted that whales were actively accumulating AERO. One whale began accumulating six months earlier (at the time of the post’s publication) and had amassed around $10 million worth of tokens.

Slappjakke also suggests that one of the whales may be an institutional player, as at that time, it owned a large amount of stablecoin USDC – 3.3 million.

Why Is Smart Money Buying Aerodrome Finance?

Aerodrome Finance is an automated market maker that runs on Base. Additionally, the platform provides liquidity to the Base network.

It is worth noting that Base is also one of the new leaders in decentralized finance (DeFi). The chain’s Total Value Locked (TVL) is $3.577 billion, which puts it in sixth place in this ranking.

Perhaps the rise in Base’s popularity throughout 2024 also contributed to Aerodrome’s success, much like Solana (SOL) works in tandem with its meme coins.

For comparison, on Dec. 29, 2023, there were 77,830 users, according to Dune. A year later, this number grew to 1.18 million—an increase of 1416.12%.

The number of Aerodrome active users has also increased. According to Token Terminal, in January, their number (monthly) was 37,200, and by December 2024 – 332,300.

Over the year, the number of active users of the market maker has grown by 793.28%. Thus, the success of Base opens the way for Aerodrome, and vice versa – Aerodrome’s success supports Base.

Despite many whales adding AERO to their portfolios in September and earlier (which makes sense due to the low price), this activity continued into November. However, the alleged names of some whales have already become known, such as Coinbase Ventures and Arthur Hayes.

On Nov. 18, Coinbase Ventures added about 1.5 million more AERO. Arthur Hayes also joined the whales, acquiring nearly 350,000 tokens.

At that time, AERO was priced between $1.2 and $1.4 before it began to rise. On December 7, the token surpassed $2 and reached its all-time high (ATH) of $2.32.

As of Dec. 30, AERO has dropped about 35% from its ATH and is now worth $1.5. Will the token continue to decline, or is this an opportunity for investors to buy at a discount?

Aerodrome Finance Price Prediction: What to Expect in 2025?

While Aerodrome Finance may not generate the same hype as meme coins or AI agents, its growing revenue is undeniable. This growth could be the key factor attracting smart money to invest in the project.

Crypto trader Kyren also drew attention to the income of Aerodrome Finance and the fact that the TVL is higher than the market cap of AERO, which is quite rare:

‘And then of course there’s the narrative of Aerodrome being the face of utility on Coinbase’s Base chain.‘

Indeed, Base plays a crucial role in Aerodrome’s success. Furthermore, Coinbase—a major player actively accumulating AERO—supports its growth.

As the creator of the Base chain, it is in Coinbase’s interest to ensure Aerodrome succeeds, as it serves as a vital liquidity hub.

According to DeFiLlama, Aerodrome Finance ranks as the top Base protocol by TVL, surpassing even the giant Uniswap (UNI) with $1.4 billion compared to $544.8 million.

Some traders expect Aerodrome’s price to grow, but this does not guarantee a jump to the previous ATH or higher.

However, others have noticed a pattern that occurred with the AERO price in May 2024, when it sharply collapsed after reaching a new peak. In such a pessimistic scenario, the token could fall to about $0.54.

On the one hand, Aerodrome Finance has shown strong performance as a protocol, ranking among the top five gainers of the year across cryptocurrencies. Additionally, whales continue to accumulate AERO, including external investors beyond Coinbase members.

On the other hand, over the past month, the price of AERO has hardly changed and is still below its ATH. This could be due to the current popularity of sectors like meme coins and AI agents. Once the hype around these trends fades, more traditional projects may begin to grow.