AERO vs DRIFT
Aerodrome Finance and Drift Protocol scored on the same 25 variables, ranked against the same 251 tokens, with every gap between them shown.
Scoring pass 18 Sept 2026. Market snapshot 7 Oct 2026.
What separates them
AERO scores 157 of 250 and ranks 16th of 251. DRIFT scores 142 and ranks 29th. AERO leads by 15 points, which is a real gap, though small enough that one variable moving would close much of it. AERO takes 14 of the 25 variables, DRIFT takes 4, and 7 are level.
One variable separates them by 3 points or more. AERO is clear on Real Staking Yield (8 against 5).
AERO still has 49.8% of its eventual supply to enter circulation against 27.4% for DRIFT. On the same market capitalisation, a buyer of AERO is taking the 1.99x dilution path and a buyer of DRIFT the 1.38x one.
AERO is valued at $794.7M against $14.3M for DRIFT, a 55.6x difference. The larger of the two also scores higher, so the market and the framework agree on the ordering here.
DRIFT trades 99.24% below its all-time high and AERO 65.7% below its own. Recovering the high needs 131.6x from DRIFT and 2.9x from AERO, which is the same statement read as the return each one has to produce.
All 25 variables, head to head
Both tokens were scored by the same framework in the same pass, so the numbers are directly comparable. What a comparison adds over two separate pages is the gap: a 6 against a 6 is a non-event, a 9 against a 3 is the reason to hold one and not the other.
Cash flow
| Protocol Revenue | 8 | 7 | AERO +1 | |
| Revenue Trend | 7 | 8 | DRIFT +1 | |
| P/S Multiple | 6 | 8 | DRIFT +2 | |
| Real Staking Yield | 8 | 5 | AERO +3 |
Supply
| Supply Inflation | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Vesting Schedule | 5 | 3 | AERO +2 | |
| Circulating / FDV Ratio | 5 | 3 | AERO +2 | |
| Buyback and Burn | 6 | 5 | AERO +1 |
Ownership
| Smart Money Flows | 7 | 6 | AERO +1 | |
| Insider Selling | 6 | 5 | AERO +1 | |
| Holder Concentration | 6 | 4 | AERO +2 |
Traction
| TVL Trend | 7 | 8 | DRIFT +1 | |
| Active Users | 7 | 7 | level | |
| Developer Activity | 7 | 7 | level | |
| Network Growth | 7 | 7 | level |
Position
| Market Share | 7 | 7 | level | |
| Competitive Moat | 7 | 6 | AERO +1 | |
| Institutional Adoption | 5 | 3 | AERO +2 | |
| Exchange Depth | 5 | 3 | AERO +2 | |
| Social Mindshare | 6 | 5 | AERO +1 |
Risk
| Regulatory Safety | 6 | 5 | AERO +1 | |
| Catalyst Calendar | 6 | 8 | DRIFT +2 | |
| BTC Alpha Potential | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Team Execution | 8 | 7 | AERO +1 | |
| Treasury Runway | 6 | 6 | level |
Bars read outward from the centre: AERO to the left, DRIFT to the right. The side that leads a variable is filled. Each score is 1 to 10 against the same definition applied to all 251 rated tokens.
Market and supply
| AERO | DRIFT | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.7947 | $0.0197 |
| Market cap | $794.7M | $14.3M |
| Circulating | 50.2% | 72.6% |
| Dilution to full supply | 1.99x | 1.38x |
| Off all-time high | -65.7% | -99.24% |
| To recover the high | 2.9x | 131.6x |
| Total value locked | $820.0M | $520.0M |
| Network | Base | Solana |
Price, market cap and all-time high from the CoinGecko snapshot fetched 7 Oct 2026. Supply shares are derived from circulating and eventual supply counts, which do not move with price. The 25 scores come from the research pass dated 18 Sept 2026.
Catalyst and risk on each side
AERO · HOLD
Base TVL growth and Coinbase network expansion driving sustained fee revenue above $1M/day peaks
Velodrome V3 migration on Optimism could siphon developer mindshare; token inflation from emissions remains elevated
DRIFT · HOLD
Relaunch after the 1 April 2026 exploit, no confirmed date
Exploited for $286M on 1 April 2026 via a compromised admin key, deposits and withdrawals suspended. VC vesting Sep 2026 (150M tokens), Solana network risk, competition from Zeta Markets
Common questions
- Is AERO or DRIFT the better investment?
- On this framework AERO scores higher: 157 against 142 of 250, and it is rated HOLD against HOLD. That is a ranking of fundamentals as recorded at the last scoring pass, not a price forecast, and AERO still wins 14 of the 25 individual variables against DRIFT.
- What is the biggest difference between AERO and DRIFT?
- Real Staking Yield. AERO scores 8 of 10 there and DRIFT scores 5, a gap of 3 points on a single variable.
- Which is bigger, AERO or DRIFT?
- AERO is valued at $794.7M and DRIFT at $14.3M on the latest market snapshot.
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Research and analysis, not investment advice. A higher score is one framework applied consistently to 251 tokens, not a prediction that one asset will outperform the other.