Aerodrome, a decentralized exchange built on Coinbase's Base network, handled more than half of all Bitcoin-U.S. dollar trading volume on Ethereum Virtual Machine-based decentralized exchanges last month. The platform captured 54% of the BTC-USD pair's volume across EVM-compatible DEXs in July, according to data from DeFi analytics firm DeFiLlama.
What Aerodrome does
Aerodrome is a so-called automated market maker, or AMM, that lets users swap tokens without a traditional order book. It launched in late 2023 and quickly became the dominant DEX on Base, which itself is a layer-2 blockchain built on Ethereum. The exchange uses a "ve(3,3)" model — a twist on the original Curve Finance voting-escrow system — to incentivize liquidity providers and steer trading volume toward specific pools.
The BTC-USD pair on Aerodrome is actually a synthetic representation: users trade a tokenized version of Bitcoin, often cbBTC (Coinbase's wrapped Bitcoin on Base), against a stablecoin like USDC. That means the volume figure reflects demand for Bitcoin exposure within the Base ecosystem, not direct on-chain Bitcoin trading.
Why the number stands out
Capturing 54% of any major trading pair on EVM DEXs is unusual. Most DEX volume is fragmented across dozens of platforms, with Uniswap historically holding the largest share. Aerodrome's dominance in BTC-USD suggests that Base's user base — and Aerodrome's incentive design — are driving concentrated activity. The figure also highlights how layer-2 networks are siphoning trading volume from Ethereum mainnet, where gas fees remain high.
DeFiLlama's data covers only EVM-compatible DEXs, so it excludes Solana-based platforms like Jupiter or Orca. Still, within the Ethereum ecosystem, Aerodrome's grip on the BTC-USD pair is notable. For context, the next largest EVM DEX for that pair, Uniswap, held roughly 22% in July.
Aerodrome's team has hinted at expanding to additional layer-2 networks, though no official timeline has been announced. The exchange also faces a governance vote in August on whether to adjust its fee structure — a decision that could shift liquidity flows. Meanwhile, competitors like PancakeSwap and Velodrome are rolling out similar ve(3,3) models, potentially eroding Aerodrome's lead.
Whether Aerodrome can hold onto its 54% share through the rest of the year remains an open question. The next monthly volume report, due in early September, will show if the platform's early momentum is sustainable or if the market is already rebalancing.
