Can Aerodrome Finance’s explosive DeFi growth spur interest in AERO?

• September proved to be a record-breaking month for Aerodrome’s ecosystem
• AERO price has moved up more than 80% in the last 30 days

Aerodrome Finance has continued to cement its position as the leading protocol on Coinbase’s recently-launched Base network. In doing so, it has outperformed its peers in several key decentralized finance (DeFi) metrics.

In fact, its trading and liquidity marketplace currently boasts a total value locked (TVL) of $1.088 billion, according to DeFiLlama. What’s more remarkable is that Aerodrome’s TVL is almost twice the combined total value locked of the next five largest protocols on Base.

Compared to other top DEX protocols on established networks, Aerodrome’s recent performance is impressive, but it still has room to grow.

Its DEX volume of $9.02 billion in September is comparable to top decentralized exchanges on Solana during the same period. That being said, it still trails behind Uniswap and PancakeSwap, the leading DEXs on Ethereum and BNB Chain, respectively.

Sustained boom on Base network

Aerodrome has seen robust growth this year, fueled by its ability to attract liquidity through its incentive mechanisms and the increasing adoption of the Base network. The DEX protocol maintained its impressive performance in September, with its TVL swelling by 87.75% across the month.

Source: DeFiLlama

Aerodrome’s dominance on Base can be further highlighted by its 30-day fees, which far exceed its competitors. In fact, some observers forecast Aerodrome to maintain its top position on the Base network as the DeFi niche regains momentum.

At the time of writing, DeFiLlama data also showed that Base currently sits sixth among chains with the highest TVL. It is now closing in on the fifth spot held by Arbitrum, which has a TVL of $2.348 billion.

Source: DeFiLlama

Here, it is worth noting that among the top 10 chains ranked by TVL, only SUI has registered a higher TVL growth than Base’s 38% in the past month.

AERO price outlook

The success of Aerodrome in DeFi has contributed to positive sentiment around its native token, ultimately helping buoy its price.

AERO was trading at $1.03 at press time, down 4.58% on the daily charts but up by 85% in the last 30 days.

On the daily timeframe, AERO appeared to break out of the $0.49 to $1.02 consolidation towards the end of last week, a zone where it had ranged since July.

Source: TradingView

The AERO/USD pair unsuccessfully attempted to establish support around $1.04, a level which previously acted as resistance in mid-July. However, it has since fallen back into the zone.

Speculators still eye $1.30, a price level that AERO has been unable to convincingly reclaim since May, as the short-term target.