Circulating supply counts the coins actually out in the market right now. It excludes tokens that are locked up, held in reserve by the team, or scheduled to be created in the future. This is the figure used to calculate market capitalisation, price multiplied by circulating supply, which is why it matters for judging a coin's true size rather than just its price per unit.
It helps to place it alongside two related numbers. Total supply is all the coins that exist today, including locked ones, and maximum supply is the hard cap on how many can ever exist, if there is one; Bitcoin's is famously 21 million. A coin can have a low circulating supply now but a large total or maximum supply waiting in the wings, which changes the picture considerably.
That gap is where a common trap lives. A token might look modestly valued on its circulating supply, yet have huge amounts due to unlock later, which can add selling pressure and dilute holders. This is why analysts also look at fully diluted valuation. Understanding circulating supply, and how it compares with total and maximum supply, is a basic tool for reading tokenomics honestly. Reliable data sources publish all three figures side by side, and comparing them is a quick sanity check before taking any single supply number at face value.
How to Evaluate a Crypto Project
Key takeaways
- Circulating supply is the number of coins currently available in the market, excluding locked or unissued ones.
- It is the figure multiplied by price to calculate market capitalisation.
- Comparing it with total and maximum supply reveals how much future dilution may be coming.
Circulating Supply — perguntas frequentes
What is the difference between circulating and total supply?
Circulating supply is the coins available in the market now, while total supply also includes coins that exist but are locked or reserved. Maximum supply is the hard cap, if any, on how many can ever exist.
Why does circulating supply matter for price?
Because market capitalisation is price times circulating supply, so it determines a coin's real size. A low price per coin can still mean a large market cap if the circulating supply is huge, which is why comparing by price alone is misleading.
Related terms
Market CapitalisationFully Diluted Valuation (FDV)TokenomicsTokenHalving Todos os termos →New to crypto, or filling in the gaps? Work through the essentials in Learn, browse every term A–Z, or see live prices for the coins these concepts power.