Circulating supply

The units of a digital asset currently in holders' hands, as distinct from the total number that will eventually exist.

Example

42,000,000 circulating out of a 100,000,000 total means 58,000,000 units are still to arrive.

Important

Market capitalisation multiplies circulating supply by the last price, so a small circulating share makes that figure look large while most of the supply is still to come. Read it beside the release schedule or it misleads in one direction.

Related terms

• Token unlock — The scheduled release of units held back at issue - typically from a team, early backers or a treasury - into circulating supply.
• Token issuance — New units of a digital asset created by the protocol itself and distributed under its own rules.
• Market capitalisation — The last traded share price multiplied by the total number of shares outstanding - the market's headline figure for the value of a company's equity.
• Holder concentration — How much of a digital asset's circulating supply sits with its largest holders.

Lessons that explain it

• Seven questions about one specific asset — What it does, who can issue more of it, who already holds it, how deep the book is, whether the rules can be changed, where you would keep it, and what would tell you that you were wrong. (14 min)

All 578 terms in the Investing glossary