Arcade Tokens to Crypto: Why Gamers Want Private Pay

Old School Gamer Magazine · Oct 23, 2026

From Brass Tokens to Crypto Wallets: Why Retro Gamers Keep Chasing Anonymous Ways to Pay

Nobody ever asked my name at the arcade.

You walked up to a change machine, fed it a crumpled bill, and a stack of quarters dropped into the metal tray. You slid one into R-Type or a pinball table, and the cabinet took the coin without a single question. No account. No login. No email address. The machine knew you only as whoever was holding the joystick, and your high score went up under three initials you picked yourself.

That detail is easy to forget now. Most of us spent our childhoods in a world…