How Crypto Market Cap Is Calculated: Step-By-Step Guide

So I was at a coffee shop last week, trying to explain to my buddy why Ethereum was a "bigger deal" than some random coin trading at $50. He kept saying "but dude, $50 is way more than $3,000!" and I realized I was doing a terrible job explaining market cap. That's when it hit me - most people get confused by this stuff because nobody explains it like a normal human being. Market cap seems complicated but it's honestly just basic math that tells you way more about a coin than its price ever will. What Is Crypto Market Cap (and Why Does Everyone Talk About It)? Market cap is basically the total value of all coins in existence for any given cryptocurrency. Think of it like this - if you could somehow buy every single Bitcoin that exists right now, how much would that cost you? That's Bitcoin's market cap. It's not about how expensive one coin is. It's about how much the entire project is worth. Bitcoin at $117k with a $2.3 trillion market cap ...