When it comes to cryptocurrencies, circulating supply and total supply terms are used to make different calculations. The circulating supply refers to the amount of coins available to the general public for purchase. The total supply is the full amount of coins that were first created.

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The total supply of a coin is, simply, however many were first created. Bitcoin, for example, has a fixed supply of 21 million. There will never be more Bitcoin. Another example is the $MXXR token, with a total supply of 900 million. Total supply is just this; the amount of coins that were first created. The total supply of a crypto is largely an arbitrary choice, what matters more for a coin’s value is the circulating supply.

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The number of cryptocurrency coins or tokens publicly available and circulating in the market is referred to as the circulating supply. A cryptocurrency's circulating supply might grow or shrink over time. For example, until the maximum number of 21 million coins is reached, the circulating supply of Bitcoin (BTC) will progressively expand. This slow rise is due to the mining process, which generates new coins every 10 minutes on average. Another variable that affects the circulating supply is any burning events, which permanently removes coins from the market. Bitcoin, for example, has a circulating supply of around 19 million. The remaining 2 million from the 21 million total supply are a mixture of burned coins or coins that are now held in dead wallets that no one can access. It’s important to remember here that these coins are sometimes factored into the circulating supply, so parts of this metric can be slightly unreliable.