iAero Protocol

iAero permanently locks pooled AERO into veAERO, votes the position automatically, and issues liquid iAERO receipts. Stakers receive Aerodrome fees, bribes, and emissions. It is a Base governance-lock wrapper, not native-chain liquid staking. No existing higher-order class covers that fixed claim on the underlying asset, so size decides the result. The 2026-08-15 survey showed approximately $1.92M, far below the version-1 size floor. We do not open an individual review until the protocol clears that floor.

Review triggers: events that reopen the verdict
• TVL sustained above the retired TVL threshold for 30 days

Watched nightly: a warning on its venues or files, or a cited document that changes, reopens the memo. The first confirmation is due 2026-11-15.

The research file

Mechanism applicability

Users deposit AERO or veAERO NFTs into a protocol-owned PermalockVault, receive transferable iAERO after a stated deposit fee, and may stake that receipt for Aerodrome voting rewards. The vault permanently locks the underlying asset for maximum voting power and carries out optimized votes each week. This is a fixed governance-token wrapper. It is not chain staking, lending, AMM inventory, off-chain credit, or a vault that moves principal among venues.

Current observation and lifecycle

The DefiLlama protocol API read on 2026-08-15 classified iAero as Liquid Staking and reported approximately $1.92M, entirely on Base. Current protocol documentation and the live application still describe AERO deposits, veAERO NFT deposits, iAERO staking, voting, and reward claims. The category label refers to liquidity for a permanent governance lock. It does not place iAERO within the native-asset liquid-staking dossier reviewed by category.

Control and exit applicability

The protocol multisig owns the PermalockVault. Authorized voting and reward roles act on managed NFTs, and a keeper handles maintenance. Weekly Aerodrome rewards pass through a harvester: 80% goes to iAERO stakers, 10% to treasury distribution, and 10% to a peg reserve. Stakers can unstake iAERO without a stated cooldown, but the underlying AERO remains permanently locked. Exiting principal therefore depends on selling the receipt and preserving its market peg, not redeeming AERO.

Why the class rule decides

At roughly $1.92M total TVL, a $1M to $8M advised book would make up a dominant share of the wrapper before we test iAERO/AERO sale depth, multisig controls, voting performance, or the conversion of reward tokens. The shared v1 size rule therefore decides. The protocol is below the size floor, so we do not open an individual review until it clears that floor. Reopen after DefiLlama TVL stays above the size floor for 30 consecutive days. Then review authorities, audits and incidents, voting and reward accounting, permanent-lock and peg risks, proposed-size secondary exit, and direct AERO or veAERO alternatives.

Research status

This is a capacity-unproven record for iAero Protocol, not a quality rejection or approval. Reported TVL says how big the venue is, not what the client owns, who can change the rules, or how a position exits at a proposed size. The individual review opens when the protocol clears the size floor.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

• iAero — receipt and permanent-lock mechanism · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: AERO deposit, permanent veAERO lock, iAERO receipt, vault, liquidity
• iAero — automated voting and deposit terms · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: veAERO NFT, deposit fee, weekly voting, protocol-managed vault, tradeable receipt
• iAero — staking and unstaking terms · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: no staking lock, unstake, reward tokens, secondary liquidity, compounding
• iAero — contract roles and controls · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: multisig owner, voting manager, reward collector, keeper, minting, backing
• iAero — reward sources and distribution · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: Aerodrome rewards, bribes, fees, 80 percent stakers, peg reserve
• DefiLlama — iAero survey record · secondary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: current TVL, Base perimeter, Liquid Staking category, survey observation

Inherited controls

The research above describes the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The layer with the most administrative power sets the position’s effective control; that describes control, not quality or suitability.