What Is Aevo? The Options and Perpetuals DEX Built by Ribbon Finance

Aevo splits the exchange into two layers ¹²:

1. Off-chain order book and risk engine. Orders are matched and margin is checked off-chain, which keeps latency low. Placing and cancelling orders costs no gas ².
2. On-chain settlement. Matched trades are settled by smart contracts on Aevo L2, an EVM optimistic rollup operated with the infrastructure firm Conduit. The rollup posts transaction batches to Ethereum roughly every hour ².

This is a middle ground between a fully on-chain DEX and a centralized exchange (see CEX vs DEX). You keep control of the wallet that signs your orders, and balances settle in contracts. But order matching and liquidations depend on Aevo's off-chain engine, and the rollup's sequencer is run by a single operator. For background on rollups, see what is a layer 2.

• Perpetual futures. Futures with no expiry on ETH, BTC and a range of altcoins, using funding rates and mark prices published in Aevo's docs ¹.
• Options. Options on ETH, BTC and some altcoins, including daily expiries ¹⁴. This was the exchange's original product ⁹.
• Pre-launch token futures. Perpetual-style contracts on tokens that have not yet launched. They carry a higher liquidation fee than standard perps ⁵.
• PERPS+. A perpetual position bundled with options protection that caps downside in one trade ¹.
• Aevo OTC. A desk for larger or customized altcoin options trades ¹.
• Aevo Strategies. Automated strategy vaults, such as a basis trade, from the team that built Ribbon's options vaults ¹.
• API and Aevo MCP. REST and WebSocket APIs for programmatic trading, plus an AI-agent interface based on the Model Context Protocol ¹.

Trading uses cross-margin by default, with a portfolio-margin option documented for advanced accounts ¹.

As of October 2026, Aevo's documentation lists these charges ³⁴⁵⁶:

Illustrative example (assumptions stated): a $10,000 perpetual position opened and closed with market (taker) orders pays 0.08% twice, or $16, before funding payments. Withdrawing $500 USDC to Ethereum instead of Arbitrum costs a further 25 USDC — 5% of that amount. The fixed Ethereum withdrawal fee matters most for small balances.

AEVO stakers can get fee discounts ¹.

You fund Aevo from Ethereum, Arbitrum or Optimism ⁶. Deposits from Ethereum use the Optimism Standard Bridge and confirm in about 10 minutes ². Withdrawals pass through a two-hour dispute window, so Aevo's docs put full confirmation at roughly two to three hours ². You pay gas on your side of deposits and withdrawals; Aevo covers settlement gas on the rollup ².

A position is liquidated when your margin can no longer cover maintenance requirements; Aevo charges the liquidation fees above on top of losses ⁵. Its docs also describe auto-deleveraging (ADL), where profitable opposite positions can be reduced if liquidations cannot be absorbed ¹.

Key risks to understand:

• Leverage and liquidation, especially on thin altcoin and pre-launch markets.
• Off-chain components. Matching and risk checks run on Aevo's servers; an outage can stop trading even though balances are on-chain.
• Rollup and bridge risk. Funds sit in rollup and bridge contracts; Conduit runs the sequencer ².
• Smart-contract and oracle risk, demonstrated by the 2025 exploit of the legacy Ribbon vaults ¹⁰.
• No deposit insurance. Aevo stated after the 2025 incident that the DAO never offered insurance on vault deposits ¹⁰.

AEVO is an Ethereum token with a 1 billion supply ⁸⁹. Holders of Ribbon's RBN token could convert to AEVO at 1:1, with a two-month lock ⁹. AEVO was distributed partly through a Binance Launchpool from March 8, 2024 (45 million tokens, 4.5% of supply) ⁹. Holders vote on Aevo Governance Proposals (AGPs), and staking gives fee discounts, boosted rewards and voting weight; protocol revenue funds a buyback-and-burn programme ¹.

The legal disclaimer states that AEVO gives no ownership, dividend or other claim on the company, that no regulator has approved it, and that persons in the United States, Canada and China were excluded from the AEVO distribution ⁷.

Ribbon Finance launched DeFi options vaults (DOVs), which once held over $300 million ¹⁰. The team launched Aevo with ETH options trading in Q2 2023 and rebranded the project as Aevo that year ⁹¹⁰. Binance Research records $16.6 million raised across seed, Series A and Series A+ rounds ⁹. Aevo's legal disclaimer names Ribbon Labs Foundation as the company that, with a distributor and contributors, develops the code ⁷; it does not identify a licensed operator for the exchange.