Circulating Supply
How many coins of a cryptocurrency exist and are actually available to trade right now.
In plain English
How many coins of a cryptocurrency exist and are actually available to trade right now.
Circulating supply counts the coins that are out in the world and free to move: in wallets, on exchanges, changing hands. It leaves out coins that are locked up, not yet released, or burned.
It matters because price × circulating supply = market cap. It also hides a trap. If a project has a big slice of its total supply still locked for insiders, those coins will be unlocked later, and a wave of new sellers can flood in.
Worked example
Same price, very different coins
- Coin A: price $1, circulating supply 100 million. Market cap: $100 million.
- Coin B: price $1, circulating supply 10 billion. Market cap: $10 billion.
- For Coin A to reach $10 billion, its price would have to rise 100-fold.
Bottom line: A price tag means little without the supply behind it.
Keep this word for good
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