What is market cap?

Definition

For a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, market capitalization (or market cap) is the total value of all the coins that have been mined. It’s calculated by multiplying the number of coins in circulation by the current market price of a single coin.

Market capitalization (or market cap) is the total dollar value of all the shares of a company’s stock — or, in the case of Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency, of all the coins that have been mined. In crypto, market cap is calculated by multiplying the total number of coins that have been mined by the price of a single coin at any given time.

One way to think about market cap is as a rough gauge for how stable an asset is likely to be. (It’s important to note that even Bitcoin, crypto’s biggest market cap, still sees volatility.) But the same way a bigger ship can safely navigate heavy weather, a cryptocurrency with a much larger market cap is more likely to be a more stable investment than one with a much smaller market cap. Conversely digital currencies with smaller market caps are more susceptible to the whims of the market – and can see huge gains or dramatic losses in their wake.  

Sidenote: you might see references to “circulating supply” market cap or “fully diluted supply” market cap. With Bitcoin, those two numbers are the 18.5 million that have been mined (“circulating supply”) or you can use the 21 million that will eventually be mined (“fully diluted supply). Depending on their methodology, some observers will measure market cap using the currently circulating supply, while others will use the fully diluted number.