Market capitalisation (market cap)
Circulating supply multiplied by the current price. The figure shows the order of magnitude – not how much money has actually been invested or would come out if everything were sold.
Alsomarket capmarketcapmarket valuemarket capitalization
On the learning path: Stage 2 · Step 2 – Halving & 21 million
Market capitalisation is a simple calculation: all the units that currently exist multiplied by the current price. For shares, that means the shares issued; for bitcoin, the BTC mined so far.
The calculation for bitcoin
Around 20,093,887 BTC have been issued so far, and one bitcoin currently costs $85,533. Multiply the two and you have the market capitalisation. For a sense of scale: 20 million BTC × $80,000 (example price) comes to $1.6 trillion.
The issued supply follows from the fixed issuance schedule and the block height.[1] The halving & the 21 million explains exactly how.
What the figure tells you – and what it doesn’t
- Order of magnitude: it helps you compare bitcoin with other investments or companies.
- Not money invested: on paper, the last price applies to every unit – including lost bitcoin and bitcoin nobody has moved for years.
- Not a payout value: if many holders wanted to sell at the same time, the price would fall. The full amount would never come out.
- Be careful with comparisons: for some altcoinsGlossaryAltcoinA collective term for all crypto-assets other than bitcoin. They differ greatly in purpose, technology and distribution of power – many have an issuer or were pre-allocated to founders and companies.On the learning path: Stage 6 · Step 2 – Spotting scams →In the glossary →, only a small part of the supply is freely tradable. The market capitalisation then says little about real demand.
Related terms
These terms are closely connected.
- This termMarket capitalisation(market cap)
- 21 million (Bitcoin’s supply cap)Under the network’s rules, there will never be more than just under 21 million bitcoin. The cap follows from the issuance schedule: new bitcoin per block halve every 210,000 blocks until none are created, around 2140.
- All-time high (ATH)The highest price bitcoin has ever reached. As of September 2026, it dates from 6 October 2025: $124,728 (daily close).
- AltcoinA collective term for all crypto-assets other than bitcoin. They differ greatly in purpose, technology and distribution of power – many have an issuer or were pre-allocated to founders and companies.
- VolatilityA measure of how strongly a price fluctuates, usually given as annualised standard deviation in per cent. Bitcoin fluctuates much more than a broad stock index or gold – up and down.
Explained in depth
These articles go into more detail:
- Deep dive · Stage 2Bitcoin, not ‘crypto’What sets Bitcoin apart from other crypto assets – a launch without a presale, no issuer, a fixed monetary policy – and why we only explain Bitcoin.
- Stage 2 · Step 2Halving & 21 millionWhy there will never be more than 21 million bitcoin: the issuance schedule, every halving by block height, MAX_MONEY in the code and the 2010 overflow bug.
- Stage 3 · Step 3Returns & riskWhat Bitcoin has returned since 2014, how deep the crashes were and how much it fluctuates compared with shares and gold – in US dollars, with sources and limits.
More from „Money & economics“
Sources1 sources · 1 publishers
The superscript numbers in the text refer to these sources.
- Controlled supply – Bitcoin Wiki (accessed 28/09/2026)
This entry is for education only and is not investment, tax or legal advice.