What do the three supply numbers mean?

Circulating supply estimates the units available in the market. Total supply counts existing units after recognized burns, including units that may remain locked. Maximum supply is an upper limit defined by the asset’s rules, when such a limit exists. Providers can differ in how they classify restricted or treasury-held tokens.

These figures are not always all available. An asset may have no fixed maximum, and a missing maximum-supply value should not be read as zero. When the classification matters to your research, check the project’s token documentation and the provider’s methodology.

Reference: CoinGecko — Supply methodology ↗

Work through a supply and valuation example

Imagine a token priced at $2, with 20 million circulating units, 60 million existing units, and a 100 million maximum. Its circulating market cap is $40 million. Valuing the maximum supply at the same price gives $200 million. Valuing the existing total supply gives $120 million.

This is why the definition behind fully diluted valuation, or FDV, matters. Check whether a displayed figure uses maximum supply or total supply. In either case, multiplying future or non-circulating units by today’s price is a hypothetical valuation. It is not a prediction that those units could all be sold at that price.

Read the unlock schedule alongside the ratio

In the example, 20% of the maximum supply is circulating. That tells you how much is circulating relative to the stated cap, but it says nothing about when the remaining units become available. A monthly release over years differs from one large release next week.

Research the recipients and conditions as well as the dates. Team allocations, ecosystem incentives, and issuance to network participants can have different purposes. An unlock creates the possibility of additional circulating supply; it does not prove that every recipient immediately sells.

Why a cheap-looking coin can still be large

A fictional token priced at $0.01 with 100 billion circulating units has a $1 billion market cap. Another priced at $100 with one million circulating units has a $100 million market cap. The lower-priced unit belongs to the larger circulating valuation in this example.

On a CoinBee asset page, read price together with the supply figures. A supply progress bar is a useful visual summary when a maximum is known, but it cannot replace vesting details, issuance rules, or a clear explanation of burned and locked units. Use those details to understand the number rather than treating a supply cap as a guarantee of value.