Meme Coin Market Cap Explained
"Market cap" is the most-quoted and most-misunderstood number in memes. Here's what MC, FDV and circulating supply actually mean, and how to read them without getting played.
The formulas
- Market Cap (MC) = price × circulating supply
- Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) = price × total supply
- Circulating supply = tokens actually in wallets and pools (not locked, not burned)
Why MC and FDV usually differ
If a token has 1B total supply but only 750M is in circulation (rest locked, burned, or still on the bonding curve), then:
- At $0.01 per token: MC = $7.5M, FDV = $10M
- When the locked supply unlocks, the effective MC catches up to the FDV
- This is why "low MC, high FDV" tokens often bleed as unlocks hit the market
Why the aggregator number is often wrong
- Some aggregators pull "circulating" from CoinGecko, which lags for new tokens.
- Burns aren't always subtracted correctly.
- Tokens on a bonding curve aren't in wallets — they're in the contract.
- Trust the on-chain number on the token page over the aggregator homepage.
Reading market cap on Memez.wtf
On the bonding curve, every Memez.wtf token has:
- Total supply: 1,000,000,000
- Graduation target: 750,000,000 sold on the curve
- Pre-graduation MC = price × tokens actually held by wallets
- Post-graduation MC = price × full circulating supply on the DEX
The traps
- "$50k MC gem" that's actually $500k FDV — check both.
- A single wallet holding 30% is a MC illusion — it can't all be sold.
- Compare MC to real liquidity, not just price.
- Post-graduation, MC and LP depth should both grow. If MC 10x's but LP is thin, exits get expensive fast.