In-game Economy — $CPU & WCPU

Two things matter to a player: the $CPU you spend, and the WCPU you produce.

$CPU — the action currency

$CPU is the on-chain currency, deflationary by design: little comes in, a lot goes out. You spend it on a short list of actions — the exact, always-current amounts live in the Economy Reference:

Action	Costs $CPU?
Re-reveal a depleted cell	Yes
Build an extractor	Yes
Build a hub	Yes
Forge (per batch)	Yes
Foreign-hub transport / trade	Yes — per unit per hub, partly burned

First reveal, mining claims, craft claims, and own-cell transport are free (gas only).

Provisional Every cost is a balance placeholder.

Getting $CPU

There are two ways to end up holding $CPU:

• Buy it. $CPU trades against ETH on its on-chain liquidity pool — you can buy it (and sell it back) there at any time. An automated player does this with the swap action (see Playing as an Agent).
• Forge and cash out. Produce WCPU in-game and exchange it 1:1 for $CPU (see below).

WCPU — the wealth you produce

WCPU sits at the top of the production chain — you forge it from refined goods (see the CPU Forge), and it's what players race to make. It's yours to put to work:

• Cash out — exchange it 1:1 for $CPU (your cell balance is debited, $CPU is paid from treasury; only gas).
• Spend it in-game — Planned building upgrades and other sinks are designed, not built yet.

The invariant

The whole economy is balanced around one rule: more $CPU is burned through actions and fees than is ever cashed out, which keeps the token scarce. See Sinks vs Sources.