What Is Supply?

When you look further into a cryptocurrency you will see different numbers depicting a range of supply metrics.

Circulating supply is the number of coins which are publicly available, moving around in the market. A circulating supply is always changing, as new coins are mined, burned or lost.

Total supply is the number of coins which currently exists—in circulation or locked in reserve. Any cryptocurrency which has been burned or lost is also subtracted from the total supply.

Maximum supply is the maximum number of coins that will ever be created. This is different to total supply, as maximum supply includes any coins that are burned and yet to be mined. Most cryptocurrencies have a fixed maximum supply, while some have no fixed limit.

For example, BTC has a maximum supply of 21 million, whilst ETH’s supply is constantly increasing, with no fixed maximum.