Surplus Intelligence reports record 312.6 billion daily tokens amid demand debate

Surplus Intelligence, an onchain AI inference market on Base, reported a record 312.6 billion tokens processed in a single day on October 18, 2026. The figure rose from 133.6 billion on September 23, 2026, reflecting about 2.3 times growth in under a month, according to its dashboard.

The announcement comes as token volumes increase across inference markets, while competitors question the focus on token counts. Amos Meiri, co-founder of the inference marketplace AntSeed, wrote that token counts “say almost nothing” and argued, “at minimum, we should ask for transparent USD spend.” Surplus’s dashboard tracks user savings rather than revenue.

Meiri cited Venice as an example of the disclosure he prefers: 500 billion tokens a day and $150 million in annual recurring revenue. AntSeed’s own onchain figures are smaller. It has settled about $310,000 on Base since launch and retained roughly $12,000 in fees, according to Bankless.

Analyst @0xJeff posted that Dolphin, whose token is DLPHN, reached 32.2 billion daily tokens one week after its API went live. The figure rose from about 14 billion tokens a day, which he cited three days earlier.

Inference has become one of the largest uses of x402 payments, Bankless reported on October 20, 2026. Onchain markets provide discounted model access and settle payments from a crypto wallet instead of an account tied to an email, card, or identity verification.

According to Surplus’s site, developers using the platform have reduced inference costs by 81%. Each call routes to the healthiest offer at the user’s minimum discount. AntSeed describes itself as a peer-to-peer marketplace where requests go directly to providers and payments settle in USDC on Base.