Circulating supply refers to the number of coins of a given cryptocurrency that are currently in public hands and available for trading. It excludes coins that are locked, reserved by the project team, or not yet released according to the project's schedule.
This number matters because it is one half of the market cap calculation, and it also affects scarcity. A project that releases new coins gradually over many years behaves very differently from one where almost the entire supply is already circulating.
It is worth distinguishing circulating supply from total supply and max supply. Total supply includes coins that exist but are not yet circulating, such as those reserved for the team or locked in contracts. Max supply is the absolute cap that will ever exist, if one is defined at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every cryptocurrency have a max supply?
No. Bitcoin has a hard cap of 21 million coins, but many other cryptocurrencies have no fixed maximum and can theoretically keep issuing new coins indefinitely.
Why does circulating supply change over time?
New coins are often released gradually through mining rewards, staking rewards, or scheduled unlocks for early investors and team members, which increases circulating supply over time.
