All terms
How many tokens exist now versus how many will exist eventually.
Circulating supply is what is liquid and tradeable today. Total supply includes locked, vesting and reserved tokens. Max supply is the hard ceiling, if one exists.
Comparing the three tells you most of what you need to know about future dilution.
Bitcoin has a max supply of 21 million, fixed in the protocol. Most tokens have no such limit.
That total supply is the number that matters. Circulating supply is what trades today and total supply is what will eventually compete with it. Comparing two projects on one number while ignoring the other is how people buy the top of an unlock schedule.
Common questions
Where do I find the real circulating supply?
Do burns actually reduce supply?
Where this comes up on the site
The guides that actually use this word, rather than a list of everything we have written.
Where to go next
More technology terms
Want this explained out loud?
Some of these land faster in conversation than in writing. Sessions are one to one and you can ask anything, including the things that feel too obvious to ask.