What is coin market capitalization and how is it calculated?

Coin market capitalization (also called market cap or mcap) is the total value of all coins in existence for that specific coin. It’s calculated by multiplying the current price by the current circulating coin supply. Hypothetically, let’s say you have SatoshiCoin and each coin is worth $75 and there is a max supply 21 million coins, but only 17 million are in the current supply. If you multiply $75 x 17,000,000 you get a coin market cap of $1,275,000,000 ($1.27 billion).

What’s the difference between circulating coin supply and max supply?

Circulating supply is the current amount of coins that have been issued to date. Max supply is the total lifetime amount of coins that will ever be issued for that coin.

What is the difference between a “coin” and a “token” on the coin market cap?

A “coin” is a cryptocurrency that operates within it’s own network and is issued to have some sort of utility and monetary value.

A “token” is a unit of account with no inherent value that represents something within a network. Tokens are issued based on other cryptocurrencies and work in conjunction with them. For example, a common occurrence is to issue a token on top of the Ethereum network for things like dapps and games. The tokens are used within applications or games to do specific things, and can be redeemed on the Ethereum network later for value.

Both coins and tokens are listed on the cryptocurrency coin market cap.

How do I buy cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Stellar or TRON?

You can buy cryptocurrencies on exchanges like Coinbase or many other top well-known exchanges. You can also swap coins from one coin to another (for example Bitcoin-to-Ethereum or vice versa) using a Cryptocurrency Exchange.

Where does the coin market cap data come from?

Some of the data is sourced from cryptocompare.com and the rest of the data is sourced from our own statistics. You can read more about CoinSalad here.