Circulating vs. Total Supply Explained
When evaluating a cryptocurrency's price potential, looking only at its current token price is a beginner's mistake. Supply metrics tell the actual story.
Circulating Supply
The number of coins or tokens that are currently publicly available and circulating in the market. This is the metric used to calculate Market Capitalization.
Total Supply
The total amount of tokens that currently exist, including those locked in staking smart contracts, reserved for the team, or held in treasury wallets.
Maximum Supply
The absolute hard cap on the number of tokens that will ever exist (e.g., Bitcoin's 21 million). Not all cryptocurrencies have a max supply, meaning they can be infinitely inflationary.
Why the Gap Matters
If a token has a massive gap between Circulating and Total Supply, it means millions of tokens are waiting to be 'unlocked' and dumped onto the market. TokenRadar tracks 'Emission Schedules' to warn you before heavy supply shocks hit the exchanges.
Continue Your Research
Apply this knowledge by checking the live Risk Scores for trending tokens on our dashboard.
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