Market cap
Market cap: Market cap (market capitalisation) is the total value of a cryptocurrency's coins that are currently in circulation. You work it out by multiplying the circulating supply by the current price. It gives a quick sense of a project's size, but it says nothing about how many more tokens are still to come.
How market cap is calculated
The formula is circulating supply multiplied by price. If a token has 50 million coins circulating and trades at $2, its market cap is $100 million. Because supply changes slowly and price changes every second, almost all of the day to day movement in market cap comes from price.
Market cap vs fully diluted valuation
Market cap only counts coins that exist and are tradable today. Fully diluted valuation (FDV) counts every token that will ever exist. A large gap between the two means a lot of supply is still locked up for teams, investors or rewards, and those unlocks can add selling pressure later. Checking both numbers side by side is one of the simplest ways to avoid paying for a project that only looks small.
What market cap does not tell you
- It is not money invested. A thinly traded token can show a large market cap with very little cash behind it.
- It ignores lost or burned coins, which can be a meaningful share of older networks like Bitcoin.
- It does not measure usage, revenue or quality.
How we use it at Collective Shift
In our research process market cap is a starting filter, not a verdict. We read it next to FDV, the unlock schedule and liquidity, then look at on-chain activity before forming a view on a project. That habit is what turns a single headline number into context.
Frequently asked questions
Is a low market cap coin a better opportunity?
Not by itself. A low market cap can mean room to grow, but it can also mean low liquidity, heavy future unlocks or little real use. Look at FDV and tokenomics before drawing a conclusion.
What is the difference between market cap and FDV?
Market cap uses the circulating supply, while fully diluted valuation uses the maximum supply. The gap shows how much new supply could still reach the market.
Where can I check a coin's market cap?
Data sites such as CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap list market cap, circulating supply and FDV for most tokens.