Fully diluted valuation (FDV) multiplies price by the maximum or planned total supply, as if every token were already circulating. It is a forward-looking size estimate, not a claim that all tokens can be sold today without moving the market. When unlocks, emissions, or team allocations are large, FDV can sit far above circulating market cap and warn that today float is temporary.
Why it matters
FDV highlights dilution risk that a tight float can hide. A project can look small on circulating value while the roadmap still schedules heavy unlocks. Traders who ignore that gap may treat scarcity as permanent when it is temporary. Comparing market cap to FDV is a fast way to see how much supply is still waiting and who might be able to sell it.
The metric is only as good as the supply schedule you trust. Vague caps, changing emissions, or poorly documented vesting make FDV soft. Desk habit is to read the token page, note cliff dates, and ask who can sell when unlocks hit. Price times a fantasy max supply is not analysis, and neither is ignoring unlock weeks that already sit on the calendar.
FDV also helps keep narrative size honest. Calling a thin-float token the next mega-cap while FDV already implies a giant valuation is a warning. Pair the number with liquidity and unlock calendars before sizing a story trade, because exit quality can worsen exactly when unlock supply arrives.
Example
A new alt shows a modest circulating market cap but an FDV several times larger because most tokens unlock over the next year. The desk treats current float as temporary scarcity and sizes risk around the unlock path, not around unit price alone. If a large cliff sits next month, position size shrinks even if the chart still looks tidy inside a range.