circulating supply
What Does Circulating Supply Mean?
Circulating supply refers to the amount of tokens that are freely available for trading in the market.
Specifically, it represents the total number of tokens currently available for buying and selling. This figure typically excludes tokens that are locked up, held by teams or foundations and not yet released, or tokens that have been permanently burned. Exchanges often use circulating supply multiplied by the current price to calculate “circulating market cap,” a key metric for assessing a project’s current scale and market activity.
For example, Bitcoin has a maximum supply of 21 million coins, but as of now, around 19.7 million are in circulation and tradable. Ethereum’s circulating supply fluctuates dynamically due to ongoing token burns and new issuance, resulting in minor increases and decreases over time.
Why Is Circulating Supply Important?
Circulating supply directly impacts market capitalization, liquidity, and risk.
At the same price, projects with different circulating supplies can have vastly different market caps. If a token has a small circulating supply, its price may be easily inflated by limited capital—but this doesn’t guarantee long-term stability. Conversely, a higher circulating supply indicates deeper market liquidity and smaller slippage during trades.
Circulating supply is also linked to “sell pressure.” If a project has an upcoming unlock event, the circulating supply will increase, more tokens become available for sale, and price pressure may rise. Monitoring this metric helps you avoid the common mistake of buying at highs right before large unlocks.
How Does Circulating Supply Work?
It changes with issuance, burning, locking, and unlocking of tokens.
Think of total token supply as warehouse inventory, while circulating supply is the amount on the store shelves available for sale. New issuance acts as restocking, burning is like discarding inventory, locking is temporary storage not available for sale, and unlocking is releasing inventory to the shelves.
A simplified calculation: Circulating Supply ≈ Issued Tokens − Burned Tokens − Locked/Non-tradable Tokens. Most projects disclose locked addresses, team and ecosystem holdings, and future unlocking schedules—allowing investors to estimate potential changes in circulating supply.
Example: If a token has a total supply of 1 billion, with 50 million burned and 200 million locked by the team and early investors, then the current circulating supply is roughly 750 million tokens. If 100 million are scheduled to unlock monthly over the next year, circulating supply will gradually increase to 850 million.
How Is Circulating Supply Displayed in Crypto?
It’s visible on exchanges, in DeFi protocols, and via on-chain data.
On exchange pages, coin descriptions or data cards display circulating supply and market cap, helping users quickly gauge project scale. For example, Gate’s coin pages show “Market Cap = Price × Circulating Supply” next to each token price.
In DeFi, staking and locking temporarily reduce tradable token amounts, lowering circulating supply. If a lending protocol increases staking rewards, more users lock up tokens—decreasing short-term circulating supply and reducing available liquidity for sales.
Project announcements frequently cover unlocks and burns. Quarterly unlocks slowly raise circulating supply; regular burns, such as buybacks followed by burning, decrease circulating supply and enhance scarcity.
How to View Circulating Supply on Gate?
Gate displays this information on each token’s page and in its overview section.
Step 1: Open Gate, search for your desired token, and access its trading page.
Step 2: In the overview or data module, find fields like “Circulating Supply” or “Market Cap.” Check for source and update time annotations.
Step 3: Compare circulating supply with “Total Supply” and “Max Supply” to assess current proportions and future change potential. Review the project’s unlock or burn announcements to judge possible sell pressure or scarcity.
Example: If a token’s circulating supply is only 20% of its total supply and has a quarterly unlock scheduled soon, anticipate upward sell pressure in coming months. Conversely, if there are ongoing burn events and high staking rates announced, short-term circulating supply may decrease.
Recent Trends and Notable Data on Circulating Supply
Major changes over the past year have focused on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins.
Bitcoin: After entering 2025, block rewards drop to 3.125 BTC per block with about 164,000 new coins issued annually (based on block count). By early 2026, circulating supply will be about 19.7 million BTC with a slowing growth rate. Lower new issuance means supply is more stable; price elasticity increasingly depends on demand shifts.
Ethereum: Throughout 2025, enhanced burning mechanisms and higher staking rates keep net supply nearly flat—with some quarters seeing minor negative growth. Circulating supply fluctuates within a narrow range—heavily influenced by on-chain activity and gas fees (see Q4 2025 chain statistics).
Stablecoins: In the second half of 2025 through Q4, major stablecoins (like USDT and USDC) continue to see rising circulating supplies as demand for on-chain settlement and compliant dollars grows. Higher circulating supply typically means increased market purchasing power—but watch for changes in issuance and redemption pace.
Project Unlocks: Throughout 2025, many popular public chains and Layer2 solutions unlock monthly or quarterly; single unlock events often account for 1%–5% of total supply. Around these dates, both circulating supply increases and price volatility are common—pay attention to project announcements and timely data sources.
What’s the Difference Between Circulating Supply and Total Supply?
There are three key metrics: circulating supply, total supply, max supply.
Circulating Supply: The amount currently tradable—excludes locked or burned tokens. Total Supply: All issued tokens not burned—regardless of whether they are locked. Max Supply: The hard cap set by the protocol (e.g., Bitcoin’s 21 million coins).
For valuation: Market Cap = Price × Circulating Supply reflects current project scale; Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV), common in project documentation, uses max or total supply × price—showing future potential scale if all tokens are released. The larger the gap between these figures, the greater the impact future unlocks may have on supply and price.
Bottom line: Always check circulating supply before considering price; combine it with total supply, max supply, as well as unlock/burn plans for a thorough risk/reward assessment.
Related Terms
- Circulating Supply: The number of coins currently available in the market—not including locked or unreleased tokens.
- Total Supply: The maximum or current total issuance defined by the project—including both circulating and non-circulating parts.
- Market Cap: Calculated as circulating supply × current price—used to measure overall market value of a coin.
- Token Unlock: The gradual release of previously locked tokens into the market—which may put downward pressure on prices.
- Dilution Rate: The proportion of new tokens relative to existing circulating supply—indicates inflationary pressure on a coin.
FAQ
Does Circulating Supply Affect Coin Prices?
Yes—there’s a strong relationship between circulating supply and price. Lower supply plus high demand typically means higher prices; the reverse leads to declines. Changes in circulating supply also influence market sentiment—for example, token unlocks may cause prices to drop. Investors often use this metric to assess long-term project value potential.
How Can You Judge if a Coin’s Circulating Supply Is Reasonable?
Evaluate from three angles: compare its share of total supply (low proportion means lots left to release); check historical unlock schedules for future changes; reference similar projects’ supply levels. On Gate’s project details pages you’ll find these data points—newcomers should especially pay attention to unlocking timelines.
What Does a Sudden Increase in Circulating Supply Mean for a Token?
A spike usually signals that locked tokens are being released by the project team—either as planned unlocks or emergency liquidity measures. In the short term this can pressure prices since more coins hit the market. Always check project announcements to see if it’s an expected unlock or something unusual.
Is It Better to Buy Tokens With Low Circulating Supply Than High?
Not necessarily. Circulating supply is just one factor—it doesn’t determine investment value alone. You should also consider technology strength, ecosystem adoption, team background, etc. Some high-supply tokens are more stable due to broad recognition; some low-supply tokens may be riskier without real-world utility. A holistic assessment is essential.
How Does Circulating Supply Differ in Inflationary vs Deflationary Tokens?
Inflationary tokens see their circulating supply continually increase due to ongoing issuance; deflationary tokens gradually decrease as transaction fees or burning mechanisms remove coins from circulation. These mechanisms shape long-term scarcity and price trends—deflation models theoretically support value appreciation but depend on effective execution. On Gate you can view each token’s history of changes in circulating supply.
Further Reading
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