Circulating supply
Also called: circulating · float
Definition
Circulating supply is the number of coins or tokens that are publicly available and moving in the market right now, excluding locked, reserved or burned tokens.
This entry is shown in English.
How Circulating supply works
Crypto projects usually report three supply numbers. Circulating supply is what can be traded today. Total supply is everything created so far minus burned tokens. Maximum supply is the hard cap that will ever exist, if there is one. Bitcoin's maximum is 21 million, while some tokens have no cap.
Circulating supply is the input for market capitalization, so it shapes how big a project looks. It changes over time: it grows when locked team and investor tokens unlock, when staking or mining rewards are issued, and it shrinks when tokens are burned or bought back.
Data providers sometimes disagree on which wallets count as circulating, for example treasury or foundation wallets. If a project's numbers differ a lot between sites, read the project's own token documentation and check the unlock schedule.
Example
Suppose a token has a maximum supply of 1 billion and a circulating supply of 300 million at 1 USDT, a market cap of 300 million USDT. Next month, 50 million team tokens unlock. Circulating supply rises to 350 million, an increase of about 17 percent. If the price stayed at 1 USDT, market cap would rise to 350 million USDT, but in practice the extra supply can push the price down if demand does not grow.
Common mistakes
- Confusing circulating supply with maximum supply when calculating value.
- Assuming circulating supply is fixed, when unlocks and emissions can raise it every month.
- Trusting a single data site without checking the project's published token allocation.
Learn and practise
FAQ
What is the difference between circulating supply and total supply?
Circulating supply counts tokens that can be traded now. Total supply also includes tokens that exist but are locked or held in reserve.
Why does circulating supply increase?
Common reasons are scheduled unlocks for teams and investors, staking or mining rewards, and ecosystem incentive programs.
Can circulating supply go down?
Yes, when tokens are burned or bought back and removed, or when tokens are moved into long-term locks that data providers stop counting.