Total Supply
Total supply is the number of tokens that currently exist, usually excluding tokens that have been permanently destroyed or burned. It is different from circulating supply, which attempts to measure tokens actively available to the market, and maximum supply, which represents an upper limit if one exists.
✦ Key Insight
Total supply helps traders understand a token's broader supply structure. A large gap between circulating supply and total supply may indicate that significant quantities of tokens exist but are currently locked, vested, held by insiders, or otherwise excluded from circulating-supply calculations. Those tokens may enter the market later.
✕ Common Misconceptions
Treating total supply as circulating supply
Assuming every token has a maximum supply
Ignoring burns
Ignoring locked tokens
Using the wrong supply number to calculate market cap
Assuming non-circulating tokens can never enter circulation
Detailed Explanation
How It Works
Imagine a project originally creates one billion tokens.
It then:
Burns 100 million
Has 400 million circulating
Keeps 300 million locked
Holds 200 million in other non-circulating allocations
The remaining total supply would reflect existing tokens after applicable burns, while circulating supply would represent only those considered publicly available.
Definitions can vary slightly between data providers.
FAQs
Is total supply always lower than max supply?
If a maximum exists, total supply is generally at or below it.
Do all cryptocurrencies have a max supply?
No.
Can total supply change?
Yes. Minting and burning can change it depending on the protocol.
In Practice
Dig Deeper
Circulating Supply
Circulating supply is the number of cryptocurrency units considered publicly available and circulating in the market. It generally excludes tokens that remain locked, permanently unavailable, or otherwise outside active circulation according to the data provider's methodology.
Token Burn
A token burn is the permanent removal of cryptocurrency tokens from circulation or future supply.