Gems: What They Are & How to Earn Them
Gems are the in-game currency of Crack the Vault — the flashy blue jewels you see around Labs. They power the vault game: you spend them on gear to attack the vault. This article covers what Gems are for and every way to stock up.
Gems have no cash value. They're an engagement currency you earn and spend inside Cointiply — you can't withdraw them or convert them to cash. Only Coins (10,000 Coins = $1) are withdrawable. Because Gems aren't money, we can afford to be generous with them.
What are Gems used for?
Gems are spent inside Crack the Vault to build your arsenal and deal power to the current vault:
- Buy items from the arsenal (bombs, drills, multipliers, and more).
- Craft and upgrade gear into stronger versions.
- Open loot crates for a chance at rarer items.
- Deploy items to deal power, climb the season leaderboard, and help the community crack the vault for its Coin loot pool.
The more Gems you bank, the bigger the plays you can make when a vault is live.
How to earn Gems
There are lots of ways to earn — you never have to do just one.
Playing offers and surveys
As you complete offers and surveys, Gems drip in automatically alongside your Coins. The rate flexes with activity (you get a little more per Coin during quieter periods), and a Gem Boost event multiplies it (see below). You don't have to do anything special — just earn Coins as usual and Gems accumulate.
Gem quests
Many Labs quests reward Gems — and a whole set of them are earned purely from free activities (no offers or spending required):
- Daily — win CoinWord, claim a Daily Spin or Mystery Box, use voice, switch AI personas, play with your sidekick, and more.
- Weekly — bigger Gem hauls for game win-streaks, spins, and trying different features.
- Lifetime — one-time milestones that pay large Gem caches (reaching a level, long win-streaks, playing Story Mode rounds, and so on).
Open the Quests page to see which Gem quests are active, and tap Claim when one completes. See Levels, Leaderboard & Quests.
Winning CoinWord & CoinTrail
Solving the daily CoinWord or CoinTrail puzzle drops a small handful of Gems — once per game, per UTC day. (You only get the Gems on a win; the games still never pay Coins.)
Companion gem tips
Your companion sometimes hands you Gems:
- The chat sidekick (the little mascot on your composer) occasionally drops a handful of Gems along with its idle coin tip — tap it when it has a tip ready. A lucky Gem tip plays a fun celebration where the sidekick spins up and bursts into a shower of Gems.
- Vex, the Crack the Vault companion, also treats you to Gems now and then.
These are pure delight — small, occasional, and free.
Story Mode bonus rounds
The hidden, cinematic Story Mode bonus rounds that can appear in chat sometimes award Gems when you play them to the finish. See Visual Effects & Extras.
Daily Crack the Vault leaderboards
Every day, the vault's category leaderboards (Most Power, Biggest Attack, Most Attacks, Most Items Used, Biggest Spender) pay Gems to the top 5 in each category. You can place in more than one. Full details in Crack the Vault: Leaderboards & Prizes.
Gem Storm events
Every so often the vault springs a leak and Gems rain across the scene in a short Gem Storm. Tap the falling Gems to fill a meter and bank a fixed reward — a quick burst of free Gems with no spending required. See Gem Storm: The Tap-to-Bank Vault Event.
Winning Live Trivia
Live Trivia games in Community Chat pay Gems to the top finishers (headline prize around 1,500 Gems). Cointibot posts a lobby card when a game is about to start — tap it to join. See Live Trivia.
Gem Boost events
During a Gem Boost, you earn multiplied Gems on every offer for a limited time. When one is live you'll see a glowing "N× Gems" badge in the vault header (e.g. 2× Gems means double). Boosts can be scheduled by the team or triggered as an in-game event, and the badge clears itself automatically when the boost ends — so it's a great window to grind offers if you're building toward a big arsenal purchase.
Quick reference
| Source | Roughly how much | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Offers & surveys | Scales with Coins earned | Multiplied during a Gem Boost |
| Gem quests | 100–2,500+ | Daily / weekly / lifetime; many need no offers |
| CoinWord / CoinTrail win | Small, daily | Once per game per day, on a win |
| Companion tips | Small, occasional | Sidekick + Vex |
| Story Mode rounds | Small | When you finish a bonus round |
| Daily vault leaderboards | 15–100 per board | Top 5 in each category |
| Gem Storm events | ~1,000 per full meter | Rare live event; up to 2 meters per storm |
| Live Trivia | Up to ~1,500 | Top finishers in scheduled Community Chat games |