Protocol Revenue
The Aura protocol generates revenue through two primary mechanisms:
Swap Fees — fees collected from trades executed through integrated partners.
Surplus Capture — the difference between the expected and the executed price of a trade when a better rate is achieved.
Both mechanisms operate transparently and are designed to ensure sustainable protocol growth while maintaining fair value distribution between Aura, its partners, and end users.
Swap Fees
When a swap is executed through a Partner Integration, the Partner can choose whether to apply a transaction fee on trades facilitated through the Aura Aggregator.
The handling and distribution of these fees depend on the chosen integration mode and routing mechanism.
Fee Collection Model
Partners define their own Integrator Fee when using the Aura API.
When swap fees are charged through Aura Market Mode, the Aura DAO collects 15% of the total accumulated fee revenue.
In Delta Mode, fee sharing occurs only when the transaction generates a positive surplus (see section below).
For more details about how swap fees are implemented and distributed, see: API Partners – Revenue Share Overview (link to the relevant documentation section)
Surplus Capture
In addition to partner-defined swap fees, Aura implements a surplus-capture mechanism.
Because on-chain market conditions can fluctuate between the time a transaction is initiated and executed, it is possible for the protocol to secure a better exchange rate than originally quoted. The difference between the quoted and executed rate is referred to as the surplus.
Mechanism
The surplus represents any positive difference between the expected output and the actual output achieved during execution.
This can occur when:
Competing transactions move the market price favorably after order submission.
Market makers provide improved prices through the RFQ (Request for Quote) system.
To manage user expectations, the interface and API display a "Minimum Received" amount or secure a quoted rate for a defined period when possible.
Distribution
In Market Mode, Aura DAO collects 100% of the surplus generated.
In Delta Mode, Aura DAO collects 50% of the surplus, with the remainder distributed according to partner configuration.
Partners who do not apply a swap fee can choose to:
Retain 50% of the surplus, or
Redirect their share of the surplus directly to the user, distributed in the destination token.
Summary
Swap Fees
Fee charged per transaction, configurable by partner integrations.
15% (Market Mode)
Partner-defined rate.
Surplus
Additional amount captured when the executed rate is better than quoted.
100% (Market Mode) / 50% (Delta Mode)
May retain or pass share to user.
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