Supply Metrics
The reference guide to Tokenomist's supply metrics
Overview
In the crypto industry, there is no universal standard for defining supply metrics. Terms like "Circulating Supply" can mean different things on different platforms, leading to confusion and making it difficult to perform accurate, apples-to-apples comparisons.
Tokenomist resolves this by establishing a standardized framework for supply metrics ensuring that you have a reliable and unambiguous data.
Methodology
Definitions
Fully Diluted Value (FDV)
The total market value of a project if its entire token supply were in circulation.
Current Price * Total Supply
Stakeholder Wallet
A known wallet (e.g., team, treasury, investor) holding tokens under special conditions. Tokens in these wallets are not considered part of the circulating supply until they are moved out.
Circulating Supply
The number of tokens available for open market trading, having been transferred out of stakeholder wallets. This is the most common measure of a token's liquid supply. We collect this supply data from multiple sources.
Locked Supply
The number of tokens that have been restricted to prevent trading in the public market and transfer to non-stakeholder wallets. The duration of the lock time and type of release (cliff or linear) are also specified. This metric does not yet include the locked token in the re-lock mechanism.
TBD Locked Supply
Tokens locked without a determined release date, often held in a treasury or reserve pending a future event (e.g., a governance vote).
Unlocked Supply
The total amount of tokens that are unlocked and claimable, including those still held in stakeholder wallets. This is not the same as Circulating Supply.
Available Supply
The total number of tokens that are either already unlocked or TBD Locked, representing the maximum potential near-term supply.
Unlocked Supply + TBD Locked
Untracked Supply
A temporary classification for tokens that cannot be assigned to a specific allocation due to data uncertainty.
Supply Y2035
Projected available token supply expected to be unlocked by end of 2035, including current unlocked, scheduled releases, and those with undetermined unlock dates (TBD supply).
Max Supply
The theoretical maximum number of tokens that can ever be created. In some cases, this number may be infinite, which indicates there is no limit to token issuance.
Emission
The net change in unlocked supply over a period, representing the rate of supply dilution or contraction.
Inflation - Deflation
3. Practical Example: How Metrics Relate
Imagine "Token X" has a Total Supply of 100 million. A snapshot might look like this:
Locked Supply: 40M (Team tokens vesting over 4 years)
TBD Locked Supply: 20M (In a DAO treasury awaiting a vote)
Unlocked Supply: 40M (The remaining tokens are unlocked and claimable)
Circulating Supply: 30M (Of the 40M unlocked, 30M have been moved out of stakeholder wallets to the open market, while 10M are still held by the project/investors).
Accessing Supply Metrics
These core metrics are the foundation of our platform and can be found across the website:
On the main dashboard for every token.
In the detailed charts and tables on each token page.
Using Supply Metrics for Insights
By combining these metrics, you can uncover deeper insights:
Gauge Inflation Potential: Compare the Circulating Supply to the Total Supply. A large difference indicates significant future inflation is scheduled.
Identify "Unclaimed Overhang": Compare the Unlocked Supply to the Circulating Supply. A large gap means insiders are holding a significant amount of claimable tokens that could enter the market at any time.
FAQs
Q1: What is the most important difference between Unlocked Supply and Circulating Supply?
Unlocked Supply is the total amount of tokens that are no longer vesting, including those still held by the team or investors. Circulating Supply only includes the portion of unlocked tokens that have left these "stakeholder" wallets and are available on the open market.
Q2: Why do you separate Locked Supply and TBD Locked Supply?
Locked Supply has a predictable, time-based release schedule that we can chart out. TBD Locked Supply has no schedule and is event-based, representing a more uncertain future supply. Separating them allows users to distinguish between predictable inflation and potential supply shocks.
Q3: Does your FDV calculation use Max Supply or Total Supply?
As stated in our formula, we use Total Supply for our FDV calculation. This represents the value after all currently planned tokens are issued, which we believe is a more practical metric than a theoretical and potentially infinite Max Supply.
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