The short version
Marvel Rivals runs four currencies you will actually touch, plus two special-purpose ones. The rules that cost players value are almost all about conversion timing and resets, not earning rates.
| Currency | Earned by | Spent on | The trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lattice | Real-money purchase; battle pass rewards | Battle passes, event passes; converts 1:1 into anything | It is the only currency money buys directly |
| Units | Battle pass, events, achievements, challenges; Lattice conversion | Store cosmetics: costumes, sprays, nameplates, emotes, MVP animations, bundles | Limited-Time Units expire at the end of their event |
| Chrono Tokens | Challenges, events, pick-up bundles, upgraded battle pass | Battle pass rewards (200–600 each) | Resets every season |
| Unstable Molecules | Battle passes, events; Lattice conversion | Chromas and Ultimate VFX (600 each) | Requires owning the base costume |
| Costume Coins | Pick-up bundles, event passes, events | One eligible costume, or 100 Units | Tied to the rotating Exchange Store |
| Accessory Points | Playing Quick Match, Competitive, Practice vs. AI or Arcade | Accessories (1350 each) | Weekly cap of 700, resetting Fridays at 9:00 UTC |
Units — the store currency
Units are what the store prices in. Costumes, sprays, nameplates, emotes, MVP animations and bundles all cost Units, and there is no way around it: if you want a store cosmetic without spending money, you are earning Units.
The free routes, in order of volume:
- Battle pass rewards. The largest single source. A fully claimed pass also unlocks the token conversion described below.
- Events. Event rewards commonly pay Units directly, plus event-specific currencies that convert into event shops.
- Achievements and challenges. The Galacta’s Guide achievement sets pay Units at point milestones, and hero challenges feed the same pool. The achievements guide lists which sets pay at which milestones.
- Lattice conversion at 1:1. If you have bought Lattice for a pass, any remainder converts straight into Units at the same rate.
One rule matters more than the rest: Limited-Time Units disappear at the end of their event window. They spend exactly like normal Units until the clock runs out, then they are gone. If you have been banking event Units, check the expiry before the event closes.
Lattice — the premium currency
Lattice is bought with real money and converts 1:1 into Units, Chrono Tokens or Unstable Molecules. Its main sinks are passes:
- Luxury BattlePass — 990 Lattice
- Upgraded Luxury BattlePass — 2100 Lattice, which also grants 2,800 Chrono Tokens and a 20% bonus on all Chrono Tokens earned during the season
- Premium Event Passes — 690 Lattice with a daily EXP cap, or 990 Lattice without one
The upgraded pass is the only place in the game where spending Lattice returns a percentage bonus rather than a fixed item, which is why it is the value pick for players who already intended to buy the pass.
Chrono Tokens — spend them before the season ends
Chrono Tokens are the battle pass currency, and unlike every other balance in the game, yours resets at the start of each season. Whatever is sitting in the wallet when the season flips is wiped.
You earn them from challenges, events, pick-up bundles and the upgraded pass. You spend them on battle pass rewards at 200 to 600 tokens per reward.
The important rule sits at the end of the track: once every battle pass reward has been claimed, 1,000 leftover Chrono Tokens convert into 100 Units or 100 Accessory Points (a 10:1 ratio). That conversion is the only way to rescue tokens from the reset, and it only exists after the pass is complete — so a player who stops claiming rewards halfway through the track loses both the unclaimed rewards and the conversion window.
Watch for Chrono Rush windows: limited events that remove the normal earning caps so matches pay tokens at an uncapped rate. They are usually scheduled late in a season, which is exactly when players are trying to finish the track anyway.
Unstable Molecules — the chroma currency
Unstable Molecules buy Chromas and Ultimate VFX, at 600 molecules each, and both require that you already own the base costume. You cannot chroma a skin you do not have.
They come from battle passes and events, or from converting Lattice at 1:1. Every hero’s proficiency track also contains 500 Unstable Molecules as level rewards, which is the main reason hero mastery matters to a collector — the Lord progression guide covers that track.
Accessory Points — the weekly trickle
Accessories cost 1,350 Accessory Points each, and the points come from simply playing: Quick Match, Competitive, Practice vs. AI and Arcade modes all pay them. The game modes guide covers what each queue is actually for if you are choosing where to spend the session.
The earning rules are where the planning sits:
- Weekly cap of 700 points, resetting Friday at 9:00 UTC
- The first 200 points each week pay at double rate
That double-rate window is the whole efficiency story: a session that banks the first 200 before the cap resets earns more per match than any session after it. If you care about accessories, play early in the week rather than saving everything for the weekend.
Costume Coins and event currencies
Costume Coins exchange one-for-one against eligible costumes in the rotating Exchange Store, or convert into 100 Units each. They arrive through pick-up bundles, event passes and event rewards. Because the eligible list rotates, a coin is only worth holding if the Exchange Store currently lists something you want.
Event currencies are per-event and die with the event: Silver Frost and Gold Frost for the winter celebration, Danqing for Fortune & Colors, Galacta’s Power Cosmic, X-Coins and Voting Tokens for the Hellfire Gala, Lanterns for Voyage to Astonish, and the Jeff’s Break Time and Whac-a-Jeff coins. Each one only spends inside its own event shop, so there is no cross-event banking.
What to do with each currency
- Lattice: passes only. Converting it into Units at 1:1 is the fallback when you have change left over.
- Units: the store sale rotation. Buy what you will actually equip; the store catalog does not disappear, so waiting for a wanted item to rotate in costs nothing.
- Chrono Tokens: claim the whole track, then convert the 1,000-token remainder before the season reset. Never let a balance cross a season boundary.
- Unstable Molecules: chromas for costumes you already own, and nothing else.
- Accessory Points: bank the first 200 of each week, then stop — the cap makes further play in the same week worth half.
- Costume Coins: spend only while the Exchange Store lists something you want.