What is Market cap?
A coin's price multiplied by its circulating supply — the standard way to rank cryptocurrencies by size.
Market cap is a coin's price multiplied by its circulating supply — the market's total valuation of the project, and the number that actually ranks coins. Price alone tells you nothing: supply choices make a $0.0001 coin and a $92,000 coin potentially identical in size. Judging coins by unit price is called unit bias, and it's the most common beginner error in crypto.
Market cap is also the antidote to fantasy price targets — "this coin just needs to hit $1" often implies a valuation larger than entire national stock markets, which the market cap calculator makes obvious in one keystroke. Watch the supply side too: fully diluted valuation (FDV) counts tokens not yet in circulation, and a small market cap under an enormous FDV means unlock-driven sell pressure is scheduled. The full explainer covers the traps.
See it in practice
Related terms: Bitcoin · Halving · Dollar-cost averaging · full glossary
FAQ
Why is market cap better than price for comparing coins?
Because supply is arbitrary. Price is just market cap divided by however many pieces the project cut itself into — comparing prices across coins compares nothing at all.
What's a "low cap" coin?
Informally, a coin with a small market valuation — where both the moonshot stories and the overwhelming majority of total losses live. Smaller cap means thinner liquidity, easier manipulation and a far higher death rate.
General information only, not financial advice. Definitions are maintained in our fact database and reviewed with the daily rebuild.