%Circ vs %Total
%Circ is the unlocked amount divided by circulating supply; %Total is the unlocked amount divided by total supply. Same unlock, same numerator, two denominators answering two different questions: how much the tradeable float expands today, versus how much of the lifetime schedule the release consumes. Succinct's August 2026 unlock read 104.17% circ and 20.83% total in the same event.
TradFi parallel: Like sizing a secondary share offering against the public float versus against total shares outstanding. The first tells you what hits the tape next week; the second tells you how far through the capital structure the company has worked.
Key Takeaways
- 01%Total = unlocked amount / total supply; %Circ = unlocked amount / circulating supply. Same numerator, different base, different question
- 02%Circ measures how far the tradeable float expands on the day; %Total measures how much of the lifetime schedule the release consumes
- 03%Circ is the higher reading whenever supply is still locked, and the ratio between the two is roughly the inverse of the token's float
- 04A high %Circ on a small dollar figure signals a thin float, not a large event: CONX printed 115.00% circ on a $17.31M June 2026 release
- 05Tokenomist's Release Percentage uses different denominators again (released supply for Whitepaper status, tracked supply excluding burns for Committed and Completed), so the two metrics are not interchangeable
- 06The Emission Screener's "% of" control re-bases the same emission against Circulating supply, Unlocked Supply, 24hr Volume, or Supply Y2035
How It Works
Tokenomist's monthly unlock reports define both figures in a single line: %Total is the unlocked amount divided by total supply, and %Circ is the unlocked amount divided by circulating supply. Total supply is every token that currently exists, minted less anything permanently burned, which makes %Total a progress reading against the lifetime schedule. Circulating supply is the narrower set of tokens actually available for open market trading, which makes %Circ a float expansion reading for the day itself. The numerator is identical. Only the base changes, and with it the question being answered.
Because circulating supply is a subset of total supply, %Circ is the larger of the two readings for any token that still has supply locked, and the ratio between them is roughly the inverse of the token's float. Succinct's August 2026 release ran $35.22M at 104.17% of circulating supply and 20.83% of total supply, a ratio of 5.0x, implying that 20.0% of PROVE's supply was circulating going in. Hyperliquid's August 2026 cliff read 4.46% circ against 1.62% total, a ratio closer to 2.8x, because HYPE is much further through its distribution. Read together, the two percentages are a float measurement in disguise.
The divergence routinely spans an order of magnitude, which is why headlines are unreliable when the denominator is unstated. PYTH's May 2024 unlock, the largest of that month at roughly $1.3 billion, more than doubled the circulating supply at 141% while accounting for just over 20% of total supply. In January 2024, dYdX released 12.5% of circulating supply but only 3.33% of total, and Optimism released 2.65% of circulating supply against 0.56% of total. %Circ is usually the bigger and more quotable number, but it can be extreme on a trivial release: CONX posted 115.00% of circulating supply on $17.31M in June 2026 and again on $35.21M in August 2026. A large %Circ says the float is thin, not that the event is large.
These two are not the only denominators on the platform, so check the label before comparing percentages. Tokenomist's Release Percentage metric uses a different base again: released supply for tokens with Whitepaper status, and tracked supply excluding burns for Committed or Completed tokens. The Emission Screener's own "% of" control lets you re-base the same emission figure against Circulating supply, Unlocked Supply, 24hr Volume, or Supply Y2035. Lighter shows why the discipline matters: LIT carries a 25.0% float figure (the airdrop divided by raw max supply) and an approximately 23.8% figure (net circulating divided by post-burn supply). Same token, two bases, not a contradiction.
Real World Examples
Succinct (PROVE), August 2026: 104.17% circ vs 20.83% total
View →A $35.22M release that unlocked more tokens than PROVE's entire circulating supply while consuming 20.83% of total supply in the same event. The 5.0x spread between the two readings is the clearest illustration in the dataset that the denominator, not the token count, drives the headline.
Pyth Network (PYTH), May 2024: 141% circ, just over 20% total
View →The largest unlock of May 2024 by value at roughly $1.3 billion. Against circulating supply it more than doubled the float at 141%; against total supply it was a little over 20%. Both figures described the same May 20 event.
dYdX (DYDX), January 2024: 12.5% circ vs 3.33% total
View →A 33.33M token release worth about $97M. The near 4x gap between the two readings reflected how little of DYDX's supply was circulating at the time, and it is the reason the same unlock could be framed as either routine or severe.
Optimism (OP), January 2024: 2.65% circ vs 0.56% total
View →A 24.15M token release worth $48.07M on January 30, 2024. Both readings were modest in absolute terms, but the roughly 4.7x ratio between them still implied that only about a fifth of OP's supply was circulating.
CONX, June and August 2026: 115.00% circ on a modest dollar base
CONX posted the same 115.00% circulating supply expansion on a $17.31M release in June 2026 and a $35.21M release in August 2026, unlocking more tokens than its entire float both times. Tokenomist flagged it as the most structurally anomalous reading in each dataset despite the small notional value.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which denominator should I use, %Circ or %Total?
Use %Circ when the question is near-term market impact: it tells you how much the tradeable float grows relative to what is already trading, which is the input that matters for absorption. Use %Total when the question is structural: it tells you how much of the lifetime issuance schedule this release consumes, which is what determines how much overhang remains. Reading only one of them is how a routine event gets mistaken for a crisis, or the reverse.
How can %Circ exceed 100%?
Because circulating supply is only the portion of total supply already trading. When a token launched with a thin float and a large tranche comes off a lockup, the release can be bigger than everything currently in circulation. Succinct read 104.17% and CONX read 115.00% on that basis. It is arithmetically normal for low-float tokens and is a signal about float composition rather than an error.
Is %Circ the same as Tokenomist's Release Percentage column?
No. Release Percentage uses a different denominator depending on tracking status: released supply for Whitepaper status tokens, and tracked supply excluding burned tokens for Committed or Completed tokens. %Circ and %Total, as used in the monthly and weekly unlock reports, divide by circulating supply and total supply respectively. The four bases are related but not interchangeable, so compare like with like before drawing conclusions.
Where can I change the denominator on Tokenomist?
The Emission Screener has a "% of" control that re-bases the emission column against Circulating supply, Unlocked Supply, 24hr Volume, or Supply Y2035. Switching to 24hr Volume is useful when you want the liquidity read rather than the supply read, and Supply Y2035 gives a bounded long-run base for tokens with no fixed max supply.
Related Terms
release percentagecirculating supplytotal supplyfloat percentagereleased supplylow float high fdvfloat doubling unlock
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Supply-side analysis for educational purposes. Not financial advice. Verify assumption and precision labels on the relevant token page.
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