What is Circulating supply?
The coins that exist and can be traded right now, as opposed to the total ever created.
Circulating supply counts coins that are issued and in circulation. Total supply includes coins that exist but are locked, and max supply is the ceiling written into the protocol.
The gap between circulating and total matters: a currency that will issue another 40% of its supply is diluting holders unless demand grows faster. Coin pages list both where they exist.
Related terms
Price multiplied by circulating supply: what the market says a coin is worth in total.
- Max supplyBasics
The hard ceiling on how many coins a protocol will ever create, where one exists.
- InflationMacro
The rate at which prices rise, and the reason 'hard-capped supply' is a selling point.