What Is a Token? Crypto, AI, and the Real Thing
A field guide for everyone who searched for a crypto or AI token and found something with actual weight. Each entry weighs a digital idea against a disc of brass.
12 guides in this series
What Is a Token? Crypto, AI, and the Kind You Can Hold
Three things are now called a token. Only one has weight, a date, and a shelf life longer than a context window. A field guide.
The Original Prompt Cache: Reuse the Token, Pay Once
Prompt caching rents your own tokens back to you at a discount. A brass token is cached the moment you own it, hit rate 100%, forever.
Cut Your Token Costs by 90%: Our Method Predates the Cloud
Every guide promises to cut your token costs by 90%. You can cut them 100%: buy the token once, then it is over.
Batch Processing Your Tokens: The 50%-Off Coin Bucket
The Batch API gives 50% off if you wait a day. We have run that program since the invention of the bulk coin purchase. We call it the bucket.
Cost Per Token, Compared: Per-Million Versus Per-Quarter
AI tokens are quoted per million, in two directions, for an object you keep for zero seconds. We quote in quarters, for an object you keep.
Model Routing for Cheapskates: When to Spend the Rare Token
Route easy work to cheap models, save costly tokens for hard problems. Every child with a fistful of arcade tokens already knew this.
Context Compaction: How Many Tokens Fit in a Coin Cup?
A model compacts and discards tokens when its context window fills. A child with a coin cup solved the same problem by going to play.
How Many Tokens to Win the Big Bear? A Tokenizer Guide
A tokenizer says "Chuck E. Cheese" is four tokens. A 1985 cash register says one dollar, four brass discs, one play of the claw.
The Original Stablecoin: Pegged 1 to 1 Since 1977
A stablecoin holds its peg through reserves, audits, and nervous reassurance. A brass token has held its peg since 1977 by being made of brass.
Tokenomics, Literally: Supply, Burns, and Couch Cushions
Crypto engineers scarcity with emission schedules and burns. Arcade tokens did it honestly: a fixed mint and a burn rate set by storm drains.
Meme Coin or Collectible? A Field Guide to Tokens That Moon
A meme coin runs on affection and nothing else. So does a collectible token, with one improvement: it is also an object you can hold.
Can a Brass Token Be Rug-Pulled? A Risk Analysis
A rug pull needs an asset you do not control and a founder who can vanish. A token in your drawer satisfies neither. Cold storage is a mason jar.