Quick answer
AION 2's earned currency is called Kina. You will see it written "Kinah" almost everywhere — that is the spelling from the original Aion (2008), and it is what most people type into search — but NC's official global wording for the new game is Kina. There is also a second, premium currency called Quna, which you buy with real money, and a first-party Kina↔Quna Exchange that lets the two convert into each other.
The catch — and it is the single most important thing to understand about AION 2's economy — is that the player Market and the Kina↔Quna Exchange are locked behind an optional ~$15/month Membership. AION 2 is free-to-play, but a free account is largely shut out of the trading economy. NC confirmed this in its official "Business Model — Our Approach" notice on 8 July 2026.
This guide covers everything NC has actually confirmed about AION 2's money — dates, spellings, the two currencies, the Exchange, and the Membership gate — and, just as importantly, flags every number that nobody can honestly tell you yet, because the global game does not launch until 5 October 2026 and no one in the West has played the retail build.
Applies to: AION 2 global launch build, scheduled for 5 October 2026 (Founder's Pack advance access 30 September). Everything here is verified against NC's official notices and the Steam store pages as of 8 September 2026. Where a detail is only known from the Korean/Taiwanese version, it is labelled as such.
Kina vs Kinah: which spelling is right?
Both refer to the same idea — the base, earned currency you loot, get from quests, and spend on gear and the Market — but only one is the official AION 2 term:
- Kina — NC's official spelling for AION 2, used in the company's own 8 July 2026 business-model notice.
- Kinah (with an H) — the spelling from the original Aion (2008) and Aion Classic. It is still all over community guides, wikis, and seller sites, so search demand overwhelmingly uses "kinah." It is not the official AION 2 spelling.
If you are searching "aion 2 kinah," you are looking for AION 2 Kina — the two are the same currency, just a decade of muscle memory apart. One honest caveat: the final in-client English string won't be locked until the retail build goes live on 5 October, so if the launch client surprises everyone and says "Kinah," we will update this page. Until then, Kina is the confirmed term.
This matters more than pedantry. AION 2 is a different game from the original Aion and from Aion Classic — three separate titles that share a lot of vocabulary (Daeva, Elyos, Asmodian, the Abyss, manastones) and mean different things by it. If a "kinah farming" guide you find is really about the 2008 game, its numbers do not carry over. See our full Aion 2 classes for more details.
The two currencies: Kina and Quna
AION 2 runs on a two-currency system, which is standard for a modern free-to-play MMO:
Kina — the earned currency. This is what drips in from normal play: leveling, dungeons, selling to vendors and, if you can access it, the player Market. You spend Kina on gear, on the Market, and on the material costs of gear enhancement. You cannot buy Kina directly with real money from NC.
Quna — the premium currency. You buy Quna with real money. It pays for cash-shop cosmetics and the premium track of the Daeva Passes (AION 2's battle passes, sold per character). Critically, Quna also converts into Kina through the Exchange — which is the bridge between spending money and holding in-game wealth.
Here is the structure at a glance:
| Kina | Quna | |
|---|---|---|
| How you get it | Play the game (quests, dungeons, drops, Market sales) | Buy with real money |
| What it's for | Gear, the Market, enhancement material costs | Cash-shop cosmetics, Daeva Pass premium track |
| Converts to the other? | Via the Kina↔Quna Exchange | Via the Kina↔Quna Exchange |
| Bought directly from NC with cash? | No | Yes |
Source: NC's official "Business Model — Our Approach" notice, 8 July 2026 (aion2.plaync.com notice board), as reported by MMORPG.com and MassivelyOP.
What is the Kina↔Quna Exchange?
The Kina↔Quna Exchange is a first-party, real-money-to-game-currency conversion system — structurally the same idea as the WoW Token or Lost Ark's Blue Crystals. NC runs it; it is not a third-party marketplace. In principle it lets a player who has spent money (holding Quna) trade for Kina from a player who has time (holding Kina), with NC as the middleman.
Why it's a big deal for the economy: because Quna converts to Kina, real money can indirectly turn into the earned currency — and, through the Market, into gear. That is exactly the mechanism players are debating when they argue about whether AION 2 is "pay-to-win." NC's position is that its cash shop is cosmetics and consumables only and that purchases "do not affect gear progression or long-term power." The counter-argument, raised by MMORPG.com, is that crafted gear is tradeable on the Market and Quna converts to Kina — so money can buy geared characters by the back door. Both are true statements; we present both and let you decide. What we will not do is tell you the rate: NC has published no Kina↔Quna exchange rate, and anyone quoting one before launch is guessing.
The Membership catch: the Market and Exchange are paywalled
This is the headline. AION 2 is free-to-play — no box price, no mandatory subscription to log in and play. But the trading economy is not free.
NC's official notice states that an optional Membership (reported at ~$15/month) "unlocks the Market and the Kina↔Quna Exchange, plus additional gameplay benefits for members." Read the other way around: without Membership, a free player cannot use the Market or the Exchange. MMORPG.com summarised the consequence bluntly — for a free player, "the only Kina you will ever hold is what drips in naturally from leveling, dungeons, etc. … Selling your loot to other players to build up a reserve is simply off the table."
So the practical picture for a free account, as confirmed so far:
- ✅ You can play the whole game, level, and run dungeons for free.
- ✅ You still earn Kina from normal play.
- ❌ You cannot list items on the Market (the auction-house equivalent) without Membership.
- ❌ You cannot use the Kina↔Quna Exchange without Membership.
A couple of the finer rules are genuinely unconfirmed, and we won't pretend otherwise. NC's notice has not clearly spelled out whether a free player can still buy from the Market (as opposed to sell), and whether direct, face-to-face player-to-player trading (a trade window) is possible at all without Membership. In the Korean build, free players could reportedly still buy from the market — but that is the KR build, not confirmed for global. Treat both as open questions until the retail client is live.
One more nuance worth knowing before you buy anything: NC's own storefront lists a "Special Quai Membership (30-day Membership)" inside all three Founder's Pack tiers (per the Steam Founder's Pack page, AppID 4972180, as of early September 2026), with perks including "remote storage, market interaction, and increased reward selection count for dungeons." That "market interaction" line is a second, independent confirmation of the Membership→Market link. If you buy any Founder's Pack, you get 30 days of Membership included — but that is a 30-day grant, not necessarily identical to the ongoing standalone subscription. If the Membership economics matter to your buying decision, our Founder's Pack tier breakdown and the full is AION 2 free to play? breakdown go deeper.
What Kina is spent on
Once you are holding Kina, it flows into three sinks — all confirmed at a system level, even if the exact costs are not:
- The Market. Buying gear, materials, and cosmetics listed by other players (Membership-gated for full access).
- Gear enhancement. Upgrading equipment consumes materials, and Kina is part of that cost. In the Korean version, enhancement up to +10 is reported to be a guaranteed success, with failure only possible above +10 — and a failed attempt reportedly costs materials but does not destroy the item, adding a small success bonus to the next try. NC has published no enhancement rates for the global build, so treat every one of those figures as Korean-version reporting, not global fact. (Our Elyos or Asmodian faction guide and the broader what AION 2 actually is explainer cover more of these carried-over-but-changed systems.)
- Vendors and repairs — the ordinary running costs of an MMO character.
The number nobody can honestly give you yet
If a page tells you a Kina-per-hour farming rate, a best-Kina-farm route, a Kina↔Quna exchange rate, or enhancement success odds for AION 2 global — it is either extrapolated from the Korean game or it is filler. Nobody has played the global retail build. NC has published:
- No Kina-per-hour or gold-farming rates.
- No Kina↔Quna exchange rate.
- No enhancement success rates, pity counts, or material costs for the global build.
- No level cap or XP curve (so "how much Kina to gear up" has no honest answer yet).
We will test and update this page after launch. Until 5 October, the confirmed economy is the structure above — the currencies, the Exchange, and the Membership gate — not the numbers.
A word on "cheap AION 2 kina" sellers
The search results for AION 2 currency are, right now, almost entirely grey-market sellers. Buying Kina or Quna from a third party is a real risk: NC enforces against real-money trading and botting with account action, the Korean launch had a visible bot problem, and a third-party purchase puts both your account and your payment at risk. There is no "safe seller." The only currency AION 2 intends you to hold is what you earn in-game or what you get by converting Quna you bought from NC through the official Exchange. We route people to the legitimate in-game systems, full stop.
FAQ
Is it "Kina" or "Kinah" in AION 2? The official AION 2 spelling is Kina. "Kinah" is the original Aion (2008) spelling and is what most people search, but it is not the official term for the new game. They refer to the same base earned currency.
What is Quna in AION 2? Quna is AION 2's premium currency, bought with real money. It pays for cash-shop cosmetics and the premium track of the Daeva Passes, and it converts into Kina through the official Kina↔Quna Exchange.
Can free players use the Market in AION 2? Not fully. NC has confirmed the player Market and the Kina↔Quna Exchange are locked behind the optional ~$15/month Membership. Whether a free player can still buy (as opposed to sell) on the Market has not been clearly confirmed for the global launch.
Can you buy Kina with real money in AION 2? Not directly from NC. You buy Quna with real money and convert it to Kina through the Kina↔Quna Exchange — which requires Membership. Buying Kina from third-party sellers violates NC's rules and risks your account.
Is AION 2 pay-to-win because of the Quna exchange? NC says the shop is cosmetics and consumables only and that purchases don't affect gear progression or long-term power. Because crafted gear is tradeable on the Market and Quna converts to Kina, critics argue money can buy power indirectly. Both points are fair; NC has not published the exchange rate, so the real-world impact is unknown until launch.
How do you farm Kina fast in AION 2? Nobody knows yet — the global game launches 5 October 2026 and no Kina-per-hour rates have been published. Any "best Kina farm" guide for the global build right now is guesswork or Korean-version data.
When does AION 2 launch? Global launch is scheduled for 5 October 2026 on PC (Steam and NC's PURPLE launcher), with five days of Founder's Pack advance access starting 30 September 2026. See our AION 2 release date guide for the full timeline.
AION 2 is developed and published by NC (NCSoft). This guide is independent and reflects information confirmed as of 8 September 2026; pre-launch details can change. For more AION 2 guides, browse timesaver.gg.
