https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48927724 seems to say dollars? Although yes the phrasing could be clearer in the post

I think it was worded badly

it was 25k WORTH of API billed tokens, but only actually 1 claude max 5x plan, so it was more like 100 dollars

Well that's a lot of money. Cheap considering what that may have cost a few years ago I suppose.