Total supply

Total supply is the number of tokens that currently exist on-chain: everything minted so far, less whatever has been provably destroyed. Unlike circulating supply, it includes tokens sitting in team wallets, vesting contracts, foundation treasuries or staking reserves that cannot yet be sold.

Analysts use it to see how much of a project is still held back from the market. A token with 20% of its total supply circulating can face heavy selling as the remaining 80% unlocks, while one whose circulating and total figures are close carries less of that overhang. For ERC-20 tokens the number is read directly from the contract's totalSupply function.

It should not be confused with maximum supply, which is the theoretical ceiling. Total supply can grow if the contract allows further minting and can fall through burns, and data providers sometimes disagree on which wallets to exclude, so two sites may show different figures for the same asset.