Circulating vs total supply — and what hides between.

Three numbers get used interchangeably and they mean quite different things. The gap between them is where most misleading market cap figures come from.

The three numbers

Why the gap matters

Market cap is price times supply, but which supply? A token at $0.001 with 1 billion total supply and 100 million circulating has a $100,000 circulating market cap and a $1,000,000 fully diluted valuation. Both are true. Quoting the smaller one while the larger is what the market eventually has to absorb is the most common way tokenomics get presented misleadingly.

The practical question isn't which number is correct. It's how fast the gap closes. A large locked share releasing over four years is a very different situation from the same share unlocking next month, even though both look identical in a total supply figure.

How locked and vesting tokens should count

Tokens sitting in a lock or a vesting contract are not circulating: nobody can sell them today. But they will be, on a schedule, and the schedule is public. That's what makes locks and vesting genuinely informative rather than cosmetic. They don't just remove supply from the market, they publish exactly when it comes back.

Burned tokens are the only ones permanently out. They should be excluded from total supply entirely, not counted as locked.

Reading it yourself

1. Call totalSupply() on the token contract via the block explorer's read tab. That's the real total, regardless of what any site says.
2. Subtract the balance held at burn addresses.
3. Subtract balances held in locker and vesting contracts — visible in the holder list.
4. What remains is roughly what can move today.

Reading contracts on Blockscout covers the mechanics.

The trick to know about

Burning supply shortly before or after launch reduces total supply and therefore inflates everyone's percentage on paper, including the team's, though that's rarely how it gets announced. A holder who kept 20% of the original supply still holds the same tokens after a 50% burn; they now just represent 40%. Always read percentages against the supply figure they were computed from.

What to publish if it's your token

Give all three numbers and the release schedule that connects them. A supply table with proof links to the locks and vesting schedules turns a claim into something checkable, and it removes the suspicion that the circulating figure was chosen to flatter the market cap. Allocation benchmarks here.

Common questions

What is the difference between circulating and total supply?

Total supply is how many tokens exist right now. Circulating supply is the portion that can actually move — total supply minus tokens held in locks, vesting contracts and burn addresses.

Should locked tokens count as circulating?

No. Tokens in a lock or vesting contract cannot be sold today, so they are not circulating. They will re-enter on a published schedule, which is what makes locks informative rather than cosmetic.

Why do two sites show different market caps for the same token?

Because one is using circulating supply and the other fully diluted supply. Both figures can be accurate; the meaningful question is how quickly the gap between them closes.

Does burning tokens increase everyone's percentage?

On paper, yes, including the team's. A burn reduces total supply, so every remaining holder's share of that smaller total rises without anyone acquiring more tokens. Always read percentages against the supply figure they were calculated from.

Keep reading

• The full FAQ
• What is a token unlock schedule?
• How to read holder distribution
• Team token allocation benchmarks
• Locking tokens launched on MetaLaunch
• Proof of lock