Circulating Supply
The number of tokens currently available and tradeable in the market, excluding locked, vested, or burned tokens.
Circulating Supply — Circulating supply is the number of tokens that are freely available and actively tradeable in the public market. It excludes tokens locked in vesting contracts, held in project treasuries, staked in long-term commitments, or otherwise restricted from immediate trading. Circulating supply is used to calculate market capitalization and is the most relevant supply metric for assessing a token's current market valuation.
What Is Circulating Supply?
Circulating supply represents the portion of total supply that is currently accessible for trading, spending, and transferring. It excludes tokens that are locked (vesting schedules, staking lock-ups), reserved (team allocations not yet distributed), or permanently inaccessible (burned to an address that is not the recognized burn address but still provably inaccessible).
Determining exact circulating supply can be nuanced. Different data providers (CoinGecko vs. CoinMarketCap) may calculate it differently based on their methodology for classifying locked versus available tokens. There is no universal standard, which occasionally leads to discrepancies between platforms.
Why Circulating Supply Matters
Circulating supply is the denominator in the market cap calculation: market cap equals price times circulating supply. A token priced at $1 with 10 million circulating supply has a $10 million market cap. The same token with 1 billion total supply has an FDV of $1 billion — a 100x difference that represents future dilution.
Tokens with low circulating supply relative to total supply (sometimes called "low float") can be easier to pump in price but face significant selling pressure as locked tokens unlock. Experienced traders always compare circulating supply to total supply and check the vesting schedule to understand upcoming unlock events.
Circulating Supply and Token Launch Strategy
The initial circulating supply at token launch significantly affects early price dynamics. Launching with a very low float (5-10% of total supply) creates scarcity that can drive initial price appreciation but sets up future dilution cliffs. Launching with higher circulation (30-50%) provides more liquidity and reduces the impact of future unlocks. Most successful projects find a balance that provides enough liquidity for healthy trading while maintaining enough locked supply to align long-term incentives.
Related Terms
Total Supply
The maximum number of tokens that will ever exist for a given cryptocurrency, as defined in its smart contract.
Read definition Token EconomicsMarket Cap (Crypto)
The total value of a token calculated as current price × circulating supply; used to rank cryptocurrencies by size.
Read definition Token EconomicsFully Diluted Valuation (FDV)
The theoretical market cap if all tokens were in circulation at the current price, including locked and unvested allocations.
Read definition Token EconomicsVesting Schedule
A timeline defining when team, investor, or advisor tokens unlock and become available for sale.
Read definition Token EconomicsTokenomics
The economic design of a cryptocurrency token including supply, distribution, vesting schedules, incentives, and use cases.
Read definitionFrequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Circulating Supply in cryptocurrency and DeFi.
Circulating supply counts only tokens that are freely tradeable right now. Total supply includes all existing tokens — circulating plus locked, vesting, and reserved tokens. If a token has 100 million total supply but 40 million are in vesting contracts and 10 million in the treasury, the circulating supply is approximately 50 million.
It depends on the staking mechanism. Tokens in liquid staking (like stETH for ETH) are generally counted as circulating because they can be traded or unstaked. Tokens in lock-up staking with withdrawal delays may or may not be counted depending on the data provider's methodology and the lock-up duration.
A low-float token has a small percentage of total supply in circulation — typically less than 15-20%. Low-float tokens can experience volatile price action because small amounts of buying or selling pressure have outsized effects on a limited available supply. They also face significant future dilution as locked tokens unlock.
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