What is Circulating Supply?

Circulating supply is the number of a cryptocurrency’s coins or tokens that are available to the public and moving in the market at a given moment. The figure changes over time as new units are released or removed.

Why the figure changes

Supply can go up when new coins enter the market through mining or minting, or when previously locked tokens are released. It can go down when tokens are permanently destroyed in a burn, or when coins become inaccessible.

What it includes and excludes

Circulating supply covers the units that are publicly available for trade. It generally leaves out tokens that are locked, reserved, or otherwise not in public hands. Because some coins are lost or stuck in unusable addresses, the number is an estimate rather than a perfect on-chain truth.

Relation to total supply and max supply

Circulating supply is different from total supply, which counts all coins that currently exist, including those not accessible to the public. It is also different from maximum supply, which is the upper limit a project will ever have. Neither total supply nor maximum supply can be lower than circulating supply.

Market cap and circulating supply

Crypto market capitalization is calculated by multiplying the asset’s price by its circulating supply. This is why the number is widely tracked on market data sites.

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About the Author

Jan Strandberg is the Founder and CEO of Acquire.Fi. He brings over a decade of experience scaling high-growth ventures in fintech and crypto.

Before founding Acquire.Fi, Jan was Co-Founder of YIELD App and the Head of Marketing at Paxful, where he played a central role in the business’s growth and profitability. Jan's strategic vision and sharp instinct for what drives sustainable growth in emerging markets have defined his career and turned early-stage platforms into category leaders.

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DISCLAIMER: Acquire.Fi is a listing and advertising platform for businesses and secondaries and does not certify or verify the information provided to the platform by the business owners. Acquisition Solutions Inc. (Acquire.Fi) does not hold itself out as providing any legal, financial or other advice. Acquire.Fi also does not make any recommendation or endorsement as to any investment, advisor or other service or product or to any material submitted by third parties to Acquire.Fi. Acquire.Fi is not a licensed crypto asset service provider and does not provide regulated financial services. The following list is compiled from Acquire.Fi partners.