Market Cap vs FDV
What does a very large gap between two valuations of the same token tell you?
The idea
Market cap uses circulating supply; fully diluted valuation uses the supply expected if all tokens were available.
In the real world
A token has a $500M market cap but a $5B FDV because only 10% circulates.
Going deeper
Market cap uses supply available now; fully diluted valuation uses everything that will exist. The ratio between them is a statement about how much supply is still to arrive.
A $500M cap against a $5B FDV means roughly 10% circulates and nine times the current float is pending. The gap itself is not damning — every project with vesting has one. What matters is the schedule: when that supply lands, over what period, and to whom, since insiders with a low cost basis behave differently from long-term holders.
Where it stops applying
FDV is a poor comparison across projects with different emission designs and time horizons. Supply arriving over ten years is not equivalent to the same supply arriving next quarter.
Why it matters
The gap is a schedule of future supply, and the schedule is usually public.
Try this today
Compare both values and ask who receives the future supply.
Test yourself
A token shows a $500M market cap and a $5B fully diluted valuation. What does that ratio tell you, and where do you check the risk?
Show the answer
Only about 10% circulates, so nine times the current float is still to arrive. The gap itself is not damning; the vesting schedule is what matters, because it says when that supply lands and to whom.
Learn this in the feed Answering from memory, then again days later, is what makes it stick.