Reddit is going to sunset its current coins and awards systems, meaning you won’t be able to buy Reddit Gold for posts you like. However, it is working on a new system for awards.
I don't understand why people frequently say this. While it's true you can pay money for them, I've never spent a dime on reddit and have given out over 50 golds and have enough coins to give out a half dozen more. I don't know what the mechanics are for earning the coins I have, all I can say is I haven't paid for any of them yet I do have them, so it's not true that when someone gives an award it was paid for with real money.
They gave out a shit ton of coins for years, and when you get gold you get coins to give out more awards. My guess is there are so many unpaid coins flying around that they're just wiping it all out to start fresh with a (maybe) profitable system.
When you buy a subscription to Reddit you get free coins you can use to give out these awards, so at least some of the time the award didn't actually cost anything above what they were already paying for their subscription.