Cryptocurrency Supply: the Difference between Circulating Supply, Total Supply and Maximum Supply

The total supply is the amount of cryptocurrency that has already been created, mined or issued at the moment. The total supply includes pre-mined, locked, and lost coins. However, it does not include burnt coins.

As a rule, the total supply of a cryptocurrency can be higher or equal to the circulating one. Also, note that the total supply is not the same as the max supply of a cryptocurrency. The total supply does not reflect the number of coins that will be created in the future.

Example:

On October 2, 2019, Bitcoin's total supply is equal to 17,969,137 BTC, Ethereum’s TS is 107,980,387 ETH and Zcash’s total supply is 7,540,119 ZEC.

Fact: Experienced traders pay attention to the total supply as it is an important metric to consider in the analysis. A significant increase in the number of coins or tokens (for example tokens locked in smart contracts until a specific date) on the market can bring down the value of the currency.