How it works
Market cap is a fingerprint of size, not a guarantee of liquidity. A coin with 1 billion tokens trading at $1 has the same nominal market cap as one with 10 billion tokens at $0.10, but their order books and turnover can be vastly different. Always read market cap alongside daily trading volume and free float.
Example
Bitcoin: 19.8 million coins × $43,000 = roughly $850 billion market cap. Ethereum: 120 million ETH × $3,000 = roughly $360 billion. A mid-cap project might have 500 million tokens at $0.40 for a $200 million market cap. Note that diluted market cap (using max supply) is often quoted alongside circulating market cap; it accounts for tokens not yet released but eventually entering the float.
Why it matters
Market cap is the right first lens for comparing projects. Large caps (BTC, ETH) have the deepest liquidity and lowest volatility. Mid caps offer faster growth potential at higher risk. Micro caps can move 100 percent in a day in either direction but rarely hold institutional capital. Stick with circulating market cap rather than diluted market cap when comparing trading size; use diluted market cap to assess long-term token issuance pressure.
