Aerodrome Incentives Explained

Let’s break down what happens when Metacade adds incentives (aka "bribes") to a liquidity pool on Aerodrome. I’ll keep it clear and simple for everyone to understand.

What Are Metacade’s Incentives?

• Metacade wants more liquidity in their token’s pool (e.g., MCADE/WETH) to make trading smoother and cheaper.

• To encourage this, they offer extra $MCADE tokens as incentives, which are deposited into Aerodrome’s system.

Where Do the Incentives Go?

• The $MCADE incentives don’t go directly to liquidity providers (LPs). Instead, they go to veAERO holders (people who lock up $AERO tokens to gain voting power).

• Why? veAERO holders vote weekly on which pools receive the most $AERO emissions (Aerodrome’s base rewards). Metacade bribes these voters to direct votes toward their pool.

How Does This Affect Staked LPs (Who Earn $AERO)?

• Indirectly boosts your rewards: More votes for the MCADE pool = more $AERO emissions allocated to it.

• If you’re an LP staked in the MCADE pool (via the gauge), you earn:

• Your usual share of trading fees from swaps in the pool.

• Higher $AERO emissions (the "extra" from votes).

• Result? Higher APR for you without Metacade paying you directly. It’s like Metacade pays voters to "unlock" more Aerodrome rewards for the pool—everyone benefits when liquidity grows!

• Bonus: Pools with big incentives like $MCADE often see a TVL spike, making them more stable for LPs.

Quick Example

• Metacade bribes veAERO voters with 10,000 $MCADE tokens.

• Voters choose the MCADE pool → It gets 20% more $AERO emissions that week.

• You (staked LP) now earn ~20% extra $AERO on top of fees. Voters get the $MCADE tokens as their reward.

This ve(3,3) system keeps things sustainable—Aerodrome’s $AERO emissions are limited, so $MCADE bribes help direct them where they’re needed most.