What is the crypto market cap?
Crypto market Cap (short for Market Capitalization) is a key piece of data for any asset, from cryptocurrencies to stocks to commodities.
Less experienced investors frequently underestimate this element: for example, how many times have we heard phrases like “When will it reach $100? ” referring to Dogecoin? The basic mistake is precisely that of not considering the Market Cap and two other key data related to it: price and supply.
Instead, investors and traders with sufficient experience should not fall into these fantasies, precisely because they are familiar with the implications related to market capitalization.
This brief discussion aims to fill a widespread gap especially among those who are building their knowledge base. The concept we will discuss is simple but, at the same time, definitely important.
Let’s get to it: let’s see what marketcap is and find out where it comes from.
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What is the market cap crypto?
Let’s think about Bitcoin and make it easy: the Market Cap is the total value of all coins mined. To calculate it, we take the total number of circulating coins and multiply it by the current price.
The same principle applies to other cryptos, stocks, gold and countless other assets. Thinking about a stock, the definition of Market Cap is identical: the total value of the outstanding shares of a given company.
In stock markets, a company’s capitalization is responsible for its placement in a given range:
- Small-cap: companies with small capitalization. Between $300 million and $2 billion.
- Mid-cap: companies that have a MarketCap between $2 billion and $10 billion.
- Large-cap: large companies with capitalization over $10 billion.
The breakdown just given is clearly indicative.
The highest market cap companies reach far higher figures: to name one big name, Apple ‘s market cap is $3370 billion (as of January 23, 2025).
Returning to cryptocurrencies, when we consult their performance on portals such as CoinMarketCap, by default we find them in order of capitalization.
Always, Bitcoin (BTC) is the coin from the largest MarketCap, followed by Ethereum (ETH). In third place is Ripple (XRP). Closing out the Top 5 are the stablecoin USDT and Solana (SOL).
What is the value of cryptocurrencies?
In providing the definition of crypto market cap, we came across two other key data points: price and supply.
Price needs no introduction. It represents the amount of money required at that time to buy a coin or stock. Varying assets, this number can indicate something else; for example, the price of gold usually refers to 1 ounce of the precious metal.
The nature of the supply can also be guessed: the number of coins mined, shares issued, and so on.
These two elements are indispensable for calculating the Market Cap. Regardless of market and asset, every investor should start his or her analysis right here, because this is the ABC.
"Formula: Market Cap = Price * Supply"
How to calculate the crypto market cap
We know what MarketCap is, and now all that remains is to answer the question , “How is capitalization calculated?” By now we have anticipated the simple formula for calculating it: we multiply price and supply.
Let’s think about Bitcoin and consider the data available right now:
- Price: $102,000
- Supply: 19,800,00 BTC
Bitcoin’s Market Cap is equal to price*supply -> 102,000*19,800,000= 2.019.600.000.000$.
Adjustments and corrections can be added to this simple calculation to make it more accurate. However, the result varies little.
In truth, any specialized portal and analysis platform (such as TradingView) already provides the Market Cap; we will hardly have the need to calculate it manually.
What matters right now is understanding the simple but fundamental mechanics behind it. By knowing the implications of capitalization, we will be able to make valid considerations about a particular asset.
For example, let’s go back to Dogecoin and phrases like “$50 by the end of the year! ‘ and ’To the Moon at $100!”. Those who enter the crypto world have very high expectations of getting rich and easily get caught up in these slogans. Will these really be realistic scenarios? Let’s see now!
Let’s assume that today 1 DOGE is priced at $0.1033. Let us also assume a supply of $132.67 billion. The MarketCap would then amount to $13.7 billion. These imaginary figures can easily be substituted for the real ones.
At the height of the bull market, Dogecoin did not go far from a record milestone: $1 per specimen. Even so, the market cap reached stellar figures.
Now let’s play a game and see how high the market cap would go for three price levels: $5, $10, and $100. For simplicity, we will keep the supply constant at DOGE 132.67 billion.
- Price at $5: 663,350,000,000 (an impressive number in itself).
- Price at $10: 1326.7 billion.
- Price at $100: 13,267 billion (sum of the Market Cap of a variety of companies including Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft).
In these playful calculations, however, we have not foreseen a not insignificant detail: the supply of Dogecoin has no limit. Therefore, we should also consider annual inflation. In short, we are unlikely to achieve such high prices.
It is a different matter for Bitcoin: maximum supply of 21 million (very low), inflation decreasing every four years (halving) and more and more interest also from funds and large investors. We don’t mean it will reach X or Y value, let’s be clear. However, the assumptions are more favorable.
Then be careful not to make the mistake of overvaluing events such as the burn of tot specimens of a certain crypto. In fact, by decreasing the supply, the price of the asset is not automatically raised.
Supply is one of the key elements but not the only one. Even if you reduce it, if demand is not adequate, the price will vary little, if at all. So beware of making reasoning like “Supply reduced by 10 percent, automatically the price will have to adjust” because the market will decide whether this will actually be the case.
However, we do not want to start more complex discourses. From this insight we need to learn one thing: the Market Cap is a very useful piece of data for evaluating a project, stock, or asset. It provides a general look at the market and the possible ceilings that can be reached, by virtue of the fact that there is always a limit. While still avoiding letting your imagination run away with the calculations as well.
Thanks to crypto market capitalization (and its price and supply components) we can avoid jumping on the shitcoin of the day with 10000 gazillion supply, because we will know: $1 can never touch it!
This formula is valid also for traditional assets like stocks. We only have to apply a little change and the formula becomes Market Cap=Price Per Share * Shares Outstanding.
Market cap crypto info
Let’s close just with a couple of names of platforms from which you can consult the crypto market cap.
CoinMarketCap is a very famous and popular portal that you have probably heard of. In addition to providing the general coin market cap figure (usually always prominently displayed at the top of the screen), we can view this information (and many others) for each cryptocurrency. The data is updated in real time and reliable.
CoinGecko is a similar platform to CoinMarketCap, of which it is ultimately an alternative.
For other asset types, we mentioned TradingView. The basic subscription is free and offers the ability to keep an eye on price, volume, and market capitalization. Subscribing (sign up here and take advantage of our discounts!) gives you access to an advanced toolset for technical and fundamental analysis.
Finally, publications such as CNBC and Investing.com offer up-to-date information on stocks, commodities, and other assets.
