Tokenomics explained: only 41 percent of Sui tokens are tradable so far

Tokenomics describes the economic rules of a crypto token: how many units exist, how many of them are already tradable, on what schedule new ones are added or removed, and who holds which share. These rules often drive the price more than any news item, because they determine how much supply will hit the market in the future. An example from November 12, 2026: of the 10 billion Sui tokens, only around 4.14 billion were in circulation according to CoinGecko market data, a good 41 percent. The rest will be released over several years.

The term combines "token" and "economics". It covers a bundle of supply, distribution, emissions and utility. Anyone who wants to buy a cryptocurrency should know these points before looking at the price chart. This guide explains each building block with real figures for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Sui and Arbitrum.

What is tokenomics? Supply, distribution and utility of a token

Behind every token is a set of rules laid down in the code or in the project's documentation. For Bitcoin, they sit in the protocol itself and can only be changed with broad agreement across the network. For many younger projects, foundations, developer companies or token holder votes set the rules, and they can change later.

Four questions form the core of any tokenomics analysis:

• Supply: Is there a cap, and how much of it is already in circulation?
• Emissions: On what schedule are new tokens created, and does the rate fall over time?
• Distribution: Who holds the tokens, and when may founders and investors sell?
• Utility: What is the token needed for, such as fees, staking or voting?

None of these questions says anything about the future price on its own. Taken together, though, they show whether new supply is coming and whether there is demand that can absorb it.

Circulating, total and max supply: the three supply figures

Circulating supply is the number of tokens that can be freely traded. Total supply also includes tokens that already exist but are still locked. Max supply is the cap that can never be exceeded, provided the project has set one.

How much these figures differ is shown by a comparison on November 12, 2026, based on CoinGecko data:

• Bitcoin: around 20.11 million BTC in circulation against a max supply of 21 million. A good 95 percent has thus already been mined.
• Ethereum: around 122.2 million ETH, with no max supply. Circulating and total supply are identical because no tokens are locked.
• Solana: around 591 million SOL in circulation against a total supply of around 637 million, also without a fixed cap.
• Sui: around 4.14 billion SUI in circulation against a fixed max supply of 10 billion.
• Arbitrum: around 6.89 billion ARB in circulation, against an initial supply of 10 billion.

A fixed max supply is not a mark of quality in itself. The cap makes future supply predictable, nothing more. What matters is how quickly the gap between circulating and max supply closes.

Market cap and FDV: where the valuation can mislead

Market capitalization is the price multiplied by the circulating supply. Fully diluted valuation (FDV), by contrast, multiplies the price by the total or max supply. FDV shows what the project would be worth if all tokens were already tradable and the price stayed the same. How market cap is calculated in detail and what rankings use it for is explained in our article on crypto market cap.

It gets interesting when the two values are far apart. For Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin they are practically the same. For Sui, market cap stood at around $3.3 billion on November 12, with FDV at around $8.1 billion. Market cap thus reaches only a good 41 percent of FDV. For Arbitrum the figure was around 69 percent ($1.0 billion against $1.5 billion), for Solana just under 93 percent.

Why a low circulation ratio is a risk

The circulation ratio is circulating supply as a share of max or total supply. If it is low, a lot of supply will be added in future. For the price to hold steady, demand has to grow at the same pace. For you as a buyer, that means a token with a low price and a small market cap can still be richly valued if its FDV is a multiple of that. This calculation is one of the criteria we describe in detail in our guide to choosing coins.

Token unlocks and vesting: how unlocks increase supply

Vesting is a lock-up period for tokens received by founders, employees and early investors. Instead of getting everything at once, their tokens are released on a fixed schedule. Each of these releases is called an unlock. A common setup combines an initial lock-up, known as the cliff, with monthly installments afterwards.

Arbitrum is a well-documented example. According to the Arbitrum Foundation's distribution overview, all team and investor tokens are subject to a four-year lock-up. The first release came one year after the token launched on March 16, 2023, followed by monthly installments for three years. The schedule therefore ends in March 2027. Until then, tokens from these pools reach the market every month.

For Sui, the unlock schedule even runs until the end of 2030, according to common unlock trackers. The monthly tranches go to investors, early contributors, the community reserve and staking rewards, among others.

Do unlocks move the price?

An unlock does not automatically mean selling pressure. Holders whose tokens are released do not have to sell them. In practice, traders still watch the dates closely, because early investors often bought in at very low prices and can take profits even after prices have fallen. Large unlocks are therefore often priced in ahead of time.

Emissions and inflation: Bitcoin, Solana and Dogecoin compared

Emissions are the issuance of new tokens, usually as a reward for securing the network. The inflation rate states by what percentage supply grows each year. Three networks show three models:

• Bitcoin halves the block reward roughly every four years. Since the halving in April 2024, miners receive 3.125 BTC per block. Inflation thus falls step by step toward zero until the max supply of 21 million is reached.
• Solana started with inflation of 8 percent, which falls by 15 percent of its value each year until it settles at 1.5 percent. In mid-2026 it stood at around 3.8 percent, according to the data service Solana Compass. The network recently voted on speeding up the reduction.
• Dogecoin issues a fixed 10,000 DOGE per block, around 5.26 billion a year. Because the amount is fixed while total supply grows, percentage inflation still falls slowly.

In networks with staking, most of the emissions go to those who commit their tokens to securing the network. Anyone who does not stake is diluted: their share of total supply shrinks each year by the inflation rate. Which providers offer staking for SOL, ETH or SUI, and with what lock-up periods, is shown in our staking provider comparison.

Token burn on Ethereum: how EIP-1559 destroys supply

A burn is the permanent destruction of tokens. The tokens are sent to an address no one can access and are thus out of circulation. Since the EIP-1559 upgrade of August 2021, Ethereum has burned the so-called base fee on every transaction. At the same time, new ETH is created as a reward for validators.

Whether supply grows or shrinks therefore depends on network activity. In periods of high fees, more is burned than newly issued, and supply falls. Since many transactions moved to cheaper layer 2 networks, less is being burned, and total supply has risen again. At around 122.2 million ETH, it is now above its level at the switch to proof of stake in September 2022. A burn is therefore no promise of falling supply, but a mechanism whose effect depends on usage.

Some projects also burn tokens through buybacks funded by their revenue. Here it pays to look at the details: is the buyback really funded by revenue, or is the project only burning tokens from its own reserve that were never in circulation anyway?

Token distribution: who got how much at Arbitrum

Distribution shows how concentrated a token's holdings are. For Arbitrum, the foundation gives the following shares of the 10 billion ARB:

• 35.28 percent for the ArbitrumDAO treasury, whose use token holders vote on
• 26.94 percent for the team, employees and advisers
• 17.53 percent for investors
• 11.62 percent as an airdrop for users
• 7.5 percent for the Arbitrum Foundation
• 1.13 percent as an airdrop for other DAOs

Team and investors together thus hold a good 44 percent. That is not unusual for venture-backed projects, but it has consequences: these groups received their tokens at far lower prices than later buyers on exchanges. According to the foundation, supply can also grow by at most 2 percent a year if the DAO decides so.

Token utility: fees, staking and governance as demand

Supply is only one side. The other is why anyone should hold the token. Typical uses are:

• Fees: You need ETH, SOL or SUI to pay for transactions on the respective network.
• Staking: Anyone who commits tokens to securing the network receives part of the emissions and fees.
• Governance: Governance tokens such as ARB give a vote on protocol changes and on the use of the community treasury.
• Security and payment: Bitcoin has no further use in the protocol; its demand rests on its role as a scarce, censorship-resistant store of value.

A pure governance token with no share of revenue has a weaker demand base than a token needed for every transaction. That is a classification, not a rating of individual projects.

Tokenomics under MiCA: white papers and staking income

If you buy tokens in the EU, you will increasingly find tokenomics details in vetted documents. The European crypto regulation MiCA requires providers that want to offer new crypto assets to the public in the EU or have them admitted to trading to publish a crypto-asset white paper. It must describe, among other things, holders' rights, the underlying technology and the risks. There is no such document for Bitcoin, because nobody is offering the coin; for new tokens, however, it is an important source.

Tokenomics also matters for tax, above all with staking rewards; how they are taxed depends on where you live, and tools for keeping records are listed in our crypto tax software comparison.

Tokenomics: the circulation ratio says more than the price

A token's price only shows what one unit costs. Whether it is richly or cheaply valued only becomes clear from the circulation ratio, FDV and unlock schedule. On November 12, 2026, the range stretched from Bitcoin, with a good 95 percent of max supply in circulation, to Sui with a good 41 percent. Three steps help you factor these numbers into your decision:

1. Look up supply and unlocks: Compare market cap and FDV and note the next large unlock dates before you buy. The major tokens can be traded with the providers in our crypto exchange comparison.
2. Offset dilution: For tokens with high emissions, staking can protect your share. Terms and lock-up periods are in the staking platform comparison.
3. Record inflows: Staking rewards and sales belong in a complete record for your tax return. Suitable software is listed in the crypto tax software comparison.

(As of November 12, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)