The largest Asian company in the field of Web3 and the metaverse, Animoca Brands, acquired a significant volume of AERO tokens, the native asset of the decentralized exchange Aerodrome on the Base network. Following this news, the price of AERO rose by more than 10%, and institutional investor interest in the Coinbase ecosystem increased.
Betting on Base Network DeFi Infrastructure
According to CoinGecko, AERO briefly surpassed the $1 mark but remains 58% below its all-time high of $2.32, recorded in December 2024. Despite the local growth, the total value locked (TVL) in the protocol decreased from over $1 billion at the beginning of 2025 to $553 million.
Animoca Brands’ decision reflects the company’s long-term strategy focused on investing in key Web3 infrastructure elements. In an official statement on X (formerly Twitter), the company called Aerodrome “an important link in the engine of DeFi growth on the Base network”.
Aerodrome is an automated market maker (AMM) and the largest decentralized exchange on the Base blockchain by trading volume. According to DefiLlama, the project only slightly outpaces Uniswap on daily and weekly intervals, but confidently maintains leadership on the Coinbase platform.
Purchase with Long-Term Lock-Up
Animoca Brands clarified that the AERO purchase was made at market price, and all tokens were locked as veAERO — a model in which investors lock the asset for a long period to gain voting rights and increased rewards.
This model incentivizes long-term holder engagement and reduces pressure from short-term speculators. Essentially, Animoca turned its investment into a tool for governance and participation in Aerodrome’s development.
The company’s co-founder Yat Siu stated that the deal made Animoca Brands “one of the largest AERO holders”. Aerodrome itself confirmed on social media that Animoca acquired the tokens directly on the market and locked them for long-term participation in the ecosystem.
Aerodrome Strengthens Its Position on the Base Market
Since its launch in 2023, Aerodrome has become one of the key liquidity points in the Base network — an Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem developed by Coinbase. The exchange uses an advanced liquidity reward model and transparent tokenomics, which allowed it to quickly attract institutional capital.
Despite the decline in TVL, experts note that Aerodrome maintains stable user activity. The drop in volumes is attributed not to a loss of interest, but to liquidity redistribution between pools within the network.
Animoca’s Strategy: Strengthening the DeFi Direction
The purchase of AERO fits into Animoca Brands’ strategy of asset diversification and strengthening its presence in DeFi. Previously, the company invested in leading blockchain projects, including Polygon, Immutable, Arbitrum, and The Sandbox.
Now the priority is shifting towards Ethereum Layer 2 infrastructure — where Base, zkSync, and Linea networks are being developed. According to Animoca representatives, they see this direction as “the foundation of future Web3 growth”.
The company is known for its investments in gaming ecosystems, but in recent years has been actively developing its financial direction, linking metaverses with decentralized finance.
What’s Next?
The Animoca Brands deal may set a precedent for institutional investments in DeFi projects based on Base. Analysts note that the growing interest of major players in AERO signals the ecosystem’s maturity and the formation of sustainable business models around automated market makers.
If Aerodrome manages to retain its status as the largest DEX on Base and restore TVL figures, the AERO token may return to levels above $1.5, especially amid long-term support from institutional investors.
Read more: What is behind the x402 boom: the new payment standard for AI agents
