totalSupply

TotalSupply refers to the total amount of a token that currently exists within a given blockchain or token contract. It is a value tracked by the token’s smart contract and represents the maximum quantity of tokens that have ever been minted, minus any that have been burned if the contract supports burning. In many standards, such as ERC-20, totalSupply is exposed as a function that returns the current supply.

Implementation and dynamics: The total supply is typically initialized at deployment with an initial supply. It can change over time through minting (creating new tokens) or burning (destroying tokens). Some tokens implement a fixed supply with no minting, while others are mintable and may increase the total supply under governance or predefined rules. Conversely, deflationary mechanisms or burn fees can decrease the total supply over time.

Distinctions from circulating supply: Total supply is not the same as circulating supply. Circulating supply measures tokens that are freely available for trading in the market, excluding those held in reserve, locked in smart contracts, or otherwise inaccessible. A token’s total supply may differ significantly from its circulating supply, especially when large holdings are locked, vested, or staged for distribution.

Usage and caveats: TotalSupply is a fundamental metric used in basic analyses and is part of many token standards. Market capitalization is typically calculated using circulating supply rather than total supply, while some analyses use totalSupply to compute fully diluted market capitalization. It is important to verify how a token defines and updates totalSupply, as implementations vary and some tokens may omit the function altogether or implement alternative naming.