What is Circulating Supply?

Circulating supply is the number of tokens that are currently available in the market and in the hands of the public. It excludes locked, reserved, or unreleased tokens.Why it matters: Market cap = price × circulating supply. If you only look at circulating supply and ignore future unlocks, you might overpay. Always check total and max supply too.What's NOT in circulating supply:Team tokens: Locked in vestingTreasury: Project reserves not releasedStaked tokens: Sometimes excludedFoundation holdings: For ecosystem developmentKey insight: A token with 10% circulating supply will see significant selling pressure as the other 90% unlocks. Compare circulating to total supply before investing.Why circulating supply matters more than total supply: For price analysis, circulating supply is far more relevant than total or maximum supply because it reflects the tokens actually available for trading right now. A token with a $50 million market cap based on circulating supply might have a fully diluted valuation of $500 million — meaning you are effectively paying ten times more than the headline number suggests. To find accurate circulating supply data, use aggregators like CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap, cross-reference with the project's official tokenomics page, and verify on-chain using block explorers. Be wary of projects that inflate their circulating supply figures by counting locked or unvested tokens, as this misrepresents the true available supply and distorts market cap calculations.