Exactly, veterans system for currency? Baloney I say!
It should be like the original C&C, upgrade character/tank stats!
E.g. if you are sniper and have killed 5 chars you now get faster reload or more HP, as you go from Rank 1 up to say rank 5, a 500 char sniper could basically have the same status as B3 havoc: 1, Shot Kill, 250 HP, 100 armor e.t.c.
Same for tanks, the tank itself would get upgraded not the driver, so loosing that tank would suck. I could see it now a fully upped Mammoth tank with the speed of a medium tank, 2000 HP, QUAD cannon shots, and 8 rockets. Actually how about a when a mammoth reaches level 5 veteran it gets transformed into a MAMMOTH MK2!
OR
A FLAME TANK That gets upgraded to a CHEM TANK!
Another way to buy stuff is not so appealing me thinks...