Market capitalisation (market cap) is one of the most widely used metrics to measure the size, value, and relative standing of a cryptocurrency. It is calculated by multiplying the current price of a coin by its total circulating supply: Market Cap = Price × Circulating Supply. This single figure gives investors a quick snapshot of a project’s total market value.
Cryptocurrencies are commonly categorised by market cap: Large-cap (Bitcoin, Ethereum — over $10 billion) are considered more stable and liquid; Mid-cap ($1 billion–$10 billion) offer higher growth potential with moderate risk; and Small-cap (under $1 billion) carry the highest risk but also the highest potential returns. CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko rank all cryptocurrencies by market cap.
Market cap is more informative than price alone. A coin priced at $0.001 with 1 trillion tokens in circulation has the same market cap as a coin priced at $100 with 10 billion tokens. Investors also watch fully diluted valuation (FDV) — market cap if all tokens were in circulation — to assess future dilution risk.
Example: Bitcoin is priced at $60,000 with 19.7 million BTC in circulation. Market cap = $60,000 × 19,700,000 = approximately $1.18 trillion, making it the largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
Learn more: CoinMarketCap — Crypto Rankings by Market Cap
