Maximum supply

Examples

• Bitcoin: The cap is 21 million bitcoin. To be exact, the total will end up just below that, at 20,999,999.9769, because of how the reward is rounded at each HalvingHalvingThe event roughly every four years when the number of new bitcoin that miners receive for each block is cut in half..
• XRP: The cap is 100 billion units, all of which were created at the start.
• Ether: There is no fixed cap on Ether (ETH)Ether (ETH)The currency of the Ethereum network, used to pay network fees, as a stake under proof of stake and to send value between people.. New ether is issued as a reward to validators, while part of every transaction fee is burned. So the supply can both grow and shrink.

How does it relate to price?

Many people see a fixed maximum supply as a strength, because nobody can dilute your holding by creating more units. Central banks, by contrast, can increase the money supply, both in krónur and in other fiat currenciesFiat currencyGovernment-issued money whose value rests on law and trust rather than gold, like the Icelandic króna..

Maximum supply on its own says little about price, though. It also matters how much is already in use, see circulating supplyCirculating supplyHow many units of a cryptocurrency already exist and are in holders' hands, the figure used to calculate its market capitalisation., and whether anyone actually wants the coin. A cryptocurrency can have a small supply and still be worthless.