Crypto Definitions

What Is Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) in Crypto?

By Ben Simpson, Founder of Collective Shift. Reviewed by Matt Willemsen, Director of Research. Updated 4 November 2026.

Collective Shift guide cover: What is fully diluted valuation?

Short answer: Fully diluted valuation (FDV) is what a cryptocurrency would be worth if every token that will ever exist were already in circulation. It is the current price multiplied by the maximum or total supply. Comparing FDV with market cap shows how many tokens are still to be released, and future releases can add selling pressure.

Key points

Market cap uses the tokens circulating today; FDV uses the full supply.
A big gap between FDV and market cap means many tokens are still to unlock.
Token unlocks work like vesting shares for teams and early investors.
For coins such as Bitcoin, most of the supply already exists, so FDV and market cap are close.

How is FDV calculated?

The formula is simple: current price multiplied by the maximum supply, or the total supply if there is no fixed maximum. Market cap uses the same price but multiplies it by the circulating supply, meaning only the tokens that can be traded today.

Here is a made-up example. A token has 100 million tokens circulating and a maximum supply of 1 billion, and each token trades at two dollars. Its market cap is 200 million dollars, but its FDV is 2 billion dollars. Only 10 percent of the supply is in the market, so 90 percent is still to come.

Why the gap between FDV and market cap matters

New tokens usually enter the market on a schedule, through unlocks for the team and early investors or through rewards to users. Ben Simpson compares token unlocks to vested equity in a startup: holders cannot sell until the tokens vest, and when large amounts vest at once, some holders sell. In one of his altcoin lessons on YouTube he calls FDV the real market cap to look at for exactly this reason.

A large gap does not mean a project is bad. It means the price has to absorb a lot of new supply, so you want strong demand and real usage to meet it.

Market cap vs FDV at a glance

	Market cap	Fully diluted valuation
Supply used	Circulating supply	Maximum or total supply
What it tells you	The value of tokens trading today	The value if every token existed today
Watch for	Low float, where few tokens trade	Upcoming unlock dates and their size

FDV for Bitcoin and Ethereum

Bitcoin has a fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins and most of them have already been mined, so its FDV sits close to its market cap. Ethereum has no fixed maximum supply, so sites usually calculate its FDV from the total supply instead, and the number is less useful. FDV matters most for newer tokens with large scheduled unlocks.

How to check FDV before you buy

Look up market cap, FDV and circulating supply on a data site such as CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap.
Work out the percentage of supply already circulating.
Check the unlock schedule on a token unlock tracker and note the next large release.
Ask whether usage and revenue are growing fast enough to absorb the new supply.

Our guide on how to research a cryptocurrency before you buy puts FDV alongside the other checks in a full research routine.

How Collective Shift uses FDV

FDV is part of the Filter step in the 5-step SHIFT Method, where every coin is checked for revenue, unlocks and liquidity before it is considered. A token with a small float and heavy unlocks ahead needs a much stronger case than one where most of the supply is already trading.

Frequently asked questions

Is a high FDV bad?

Not on its own. A high FDV compared with market cap means many tokens are still to be released. That can weigh on the price if demand does not keep up, so it is a reason to check the unlock schedule, not an automatic red flag.

What is the difference between FDV and market cap?

Market cap multiplies the price by the tokens circulating today. FDV multiplies the price by the maximum or total supply. The difference shows how much supply is still to enter the market.

What is a token unlock?

A token unlock is a scheduled release of tokens that were locked for the team, early investors or a treasury. It works like vesting in a startup and can add selling pressure when large amounts unlock.

Does Bitcoin have an FDV?

Yes. Because Bitcoin has a fixed maximum of 21 million coins and most are already mined, its FDV is close to its market cap.

This guide is general education only and is not personal financial advice. Collective Shift Pty Ltd, ABN 78 650 977 325.

Written by Ben Simpson, Founder of Collective Shift, and reviewed by Matt Willemsen, Director of Research. Published 4 November 2026. Updated 4 November 2026.