FDV vs Market Cap: Fully Diluted Valuation in Crypto

FDV (fully diluted valuation) is a token's price multiplied by its maximum or total supply, while market cap is the price multiplied by only the tokens circulating today. The gap between the two shows how much new supply could still reach the market, which matters for anyone holding a token with large future unlocks.

FDV vs market cap definition

FDV stands for fully diluted valuation. It answers the question: what would this token be worth if every token that will ever exist were already in circulation at today's price?

Market cap, short for market capitalisation, uses circulating supply: tokens that are actually unlocked and tradable. Tokens held in vesting contracts for teams and investors, unreleased reward emissions and locked treasury funds are usually excluded.

The two numbers are equal only when circulating supply equals total supply. For most new tokens, FDV is much higher than market cap because a large share of supply is still locked.

How FDV and market cap work

1. Market cap = current price × circulating supply.
2. FDV = current price × maximum supply (or total supply if there is no hard cap).
3. Float ratio = market cap ÷ FDV, or circulating ÷ maximum supply. A 20% ratio means 80% of tokens have not reached the market yet.

Data sites differ on definitions. Some use total supply (minted so far) and some use maximum supply (the hard cap), and "circulating" can be counted differently. Always check which supply figures a site uses before comparing two tokens.

FDV vs market cap example

Say a new token trades at 0.50 USD. It has a maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens, but only 150,000,000 are circulating; the rest are locked for the team, investors and future rewards.

• Market cap = 0.50 × 150,000,000 = 75 million USD.
• FDV = 0.50 × 1,000,000,000 = 500 million USD.
• Float ratio = 15%.

Now say 100,000,000 tokens unlock next month and holders sell. For the market cap to stay at 75 million USD across 250,000,000 circulating tokens, the price would have to fall to 0.30 USD. Holding the price at 0.50 would need about 50 million USD of new buying. That is the dilution FDV warns you about.

Why FDV vs market cap matters

• Unlock pressure. A low float and high FDV mean steady new supply. Check the vesting schedule, especially cliff unlocks where large amounts release on one date.
• Fair comparisons. Two tokens with the same market cap can have very different FDVs. Comparing on market cap alone can make a heavily locked token look cheap.
• Valuation vs usage. Comparing FDV with protocol fees or with total value locked (TVL) shows how much growth the price already assumes.
• Not a target. FDV assumes today's price holds as supply grows, which rarely happens. It is a measure of potential dilution, not a forecast.
• Uncapped supply. Tokens with ongoing inflation have no true "fully diluted" state, so FDV is usually based on current total supply and understates future dilution.

FDV and market cap on JewelSwap

Many JewelSwap derivative tokens, such as JWLSUI, JWLEGLD and JWLXRD, are minted when users deposit the underlying asset, so their supply grows and shrinks with deposits rather than following a fixed unlock schedule. For those tokens, backing and redemption terms say more than FDV does. JewelSwap tokens explained lists how each token is created.

Related terms

• Tokenomics — supply, distribution and incentive design for a token.
• Cliff vesting — a lock period after which a large batch of tokens unlocks at once.
• Governance token — a token that carries voting rights.
• Real yield — rewards paid from protocol revenue rather than new token emissions.
• Liquidity mining — emitting tokens to liquidity providers, a common source of new supply.

Learn more on the JewelSwap blog

• JewelSwap tokens explained — every JewelSwap token, what backs it and how it is minted.
• DeFi TVL explained — what total value locked measures and how to compare it with valuation.

Frequently asked questions

What does FDV stand for in crypto?

FDV stands for fully diluted valuation: the token's current price multiplied by its maximum or total supply, as if every token were already in circulation.

FDV vs market cap: which is more important?

Market cap shows what the tradable supply is worth today; FDV shows the value once all supply is released. Use both, and pay most attention to the gap between them and to when locked tokens unlock.

What is circulating supply?

Circulating supply is the number of tokens that are unlocked and available to trade. It excludes tokens still held in vesting contracts, unissued rewards and locked treasuries.

JewelSwap Crypto Glossary · educational, not financial advice. Updated 2 October 2026. Browse the full glossary.