How to use Venice's DIEM token for daily AI credits

What DIEM is and how it works

DIEM is a tokenized credit for generative AI and API access across Venice's model ecosystem. Instead of paying for credits over and over, you acquire and stake DIEM once, and it produces refreshing daily API credits.

DIEM lives on Base, the Ethereum layer 2 chain, so you acquire it the same way you would any token on that network. The core idea: every staked DIEM gives you $1 of API credits every day, refreshed each epoch.

Acquiring and staking DIEM

The simplest path is to swap for DIEM on the Aerodrome exchange. When you do, confirm you are swapping to the correct DIEM contract address before approving the trade.

Once you hold DIEM, go to the Venice token dashboard and connect your wallet. When your available DIEM balance appears, click "Stake" and confirm the transaction. You will then see a staked DIEM balance, which is what entitles you to your daily credits.

Minting DIEM by staking VVV

There is a second way to obtain DIEM: stake the VVV token to mint it. You can buy VVV on Aerodrome just like DIEM, or buy it on Coinbase and withdraw to your Coinbase wallet.

Back in the token dashboard, your available VVV balance can be staked. Once VVV is staked, you can mint DIEM without buying it directly. Minting locks your VVV until you burn the DIEM you minted. After minting, click "Stake" again to activate your $1-per-DIEM of daily API credits. While VVV stays staked it also earns a yield, and you can claim those rewards anytime.

Tracking credits and generating API keys

Open the API page in your Venice dashboard. There you can see your current DIEM balance and your upcoming balance for the next epoch, along with a countdown to when it refreshes. Knowing the refresh timing lets you plan usage against a consistent, predictable budget.

The dashboard also breaks down your usage as DIEM versus USD, so you can confirm you are spending credits rather than dollars. Scroll down to generate a new API key, which you will use to connect Venice to outside tools.

Using credits in automations and coding

Your API credits work on any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, which opens up a wide range of tools.

In N8N, create an OpenAI credential, set the Venice AI base URL, and paste in your API key. You can then select from Venice's top API models. A typical workflow might trigger daily, generate an image with a model like Nano Banana Pro through the Venice API, and post the result to a destination such as Instagram. Recurring automations like this are a natural fit for refreshing daily credits.

The same setup powers coding. In VS Code with a compatible plugin, open settings, choose an OpenAI-compatible provider, enter the Venice AI base URL, and add your API key. You can now code against strong models using your DIEM credits.

Spending credits in the Venice browser interface

DIEM also counts toward Venice credits in the main Venice browser app. Open the model menu and select a premium model like Nano Banana Pro, and Venice shows how many credits a generation will cost before you run it.

For exact pricing across text, image, and video models, plus model names, specs, and input parameters, check the Venice API docs at docs.venice.ai. As a demonstration, an image-to-video generation in the browser displayed a cost of 132 credits before running, turning a still image of the DIEM token into a video of it descending through the clouds.

Where to go next

With recurring daily credits, you can keep building across automations, coding tools, and the Venice interface without repurchasing credits each time. For more use cases and ideas, the Venice AI Discord is where the community shares creative ways to put this tokenized API credit to work.

Key takeaways

• DIEM is a tokenized API credit on Base; staking it gives you $1 of refreshing API credits per DIEM every day.
• You can either swap for DIEM on Aerodrome or stake VVV to mint DIEM, which locks your VVV and also earns yield.
• Always staking is the step that activates daily credits, whether you bought or minted your DIEM.
• One API key works across OpenAI-compatible tools like N8N and VS Code, as well as the Venice browser interface, with per-model costs listed at docs.venice.ai.