Circulating supply counts the units actually in public hands. It excludes tokens that exist on paper but cannot yet be sold — coins reserved for the founding team, allocations still inside a vesting schedule, tokens held in a treasury, and any units verifiably burned or locked. It is the supply figure used to calculate market cap.
The gap between circulating supply and total supply is where a lot of price pressure hides. A token with 10% of its supply circulating has 90% still to arrive, and each scheduled release adds sellers to the market. Comparing the two numbers, and checking when the locked portion is due, tells you far more about future supply than either number does alone.
What is the difference between circulating and total supply?
Circulating supply is what can be traded today. Total supply includes locked, vesting and treasury-held tokens that exist but are not yet available, and max supply is the hard ceiling the protocol will ever allow.
Last updated October 17, 2026