Commercial market emerges for resale of unused AI inference credits
A report by Vectoral identifies a growing network of entities facilitating off-market transactions of artificial intelligence tokens, with discounts reaching up to 40 per cent.
A commercial market for reselling unused artificial intelligence inference credits has emerged, driven by brokers who purchase credits from startups at steep discounts and resell them through dedicated marketplaces, bulk-discount routers, and message boards. The report, published by Vectoral on 10 August 2026, identifies specific entities facilitating these transactions, including AI Credits, AICreditMart, CheapCredits, Tokvana, and Neokens.
The market operates through websites and Telegram channels, with an estimated volume of tens of millions of credits being offered. Brokers act as proxies, pooling keys and forwarding requests rather than handing out provider keys directly. One identified seller was offering $100,000 in spend per day, illustrating the scale of supply available to secondary buyers.
CheapCredits presents itself as a router achieving discounts through bulk pricing and offers a Data Processing Agreement for GDPR compliance. Other platforms, such as AI Credits and AICreditMart, bill themselves as credit marketplaces where users can select preferred delivery methods. Tokvana and Neokens also position themselves as resellers leveraging bulk purchase advantages.
Some resellers offer discounts of up to 40 per cent, though the author notes this is unlikely unless the reseller is a top-tier customer of the provider. The author’s hunch that CheapCredits is acquiring supply through means other than direct bulk purchasing is speculative, as is the estimate of tens of millions of credits being offered.
Tokens have become a pseudo-currency, creating liquidity that can facilitate abuse. The author estimates that company crackdowns on this type of abuse are likely as costs become a greater focus for businesses. This prediction is based on the author’s assessment of market trends rather than confirmed policy changes.
The report follows a previous piece by the author regarding the token relay market, noting that while startups swapping credits is not a new phenomenon, the commercialization of these activities marks a shift in the landscape. The article was published on Hacker News on 16 August 2026.
