How Filecoin token supply works: cap, minting and locks
Filecoin's supply is capped; most tokens go to storage mining rewards. Circulating supply is lower, and explorers show it with total and max FIL.
Vahe HakobyanEditor-in-chief
Updated Oct 6, 20263 min readFact-checked
On this page
- Total supply counts existing FIL, including locked or vesting, after burns.
- Circulating supply counts only FIL that can move now.
- Simple and baseline minting both pay rewards that decay.
Filecoin's supply is not fixed from day one. New FIL enters through block rewards, while vesting and collateral locks hold some tokens back.
How to check current Filecoin supply
Public block explorers show Filecoin's circulating supply. The mainnet launched in October 2020, so explorers have reported supply figures since then. Look for pages that label circulating, total, and maximum supply separately.
What do the supply figures mean?
Maximum supply is the protocol cap. Total supply counts all existing FIL, including locked or vesting tokens, but not burned FIL. Circulating supply counts only FIL that can move now.
- Storage mining rewards take the largest allocation, reserved for storage providers.
- Protocol Labs, the company that created Filecoin, receives a portion.
- Investors from the August 2017 initial coin offering receive a portion.
- The Filecoin Foundation, set up in 2020, receives a portion.
How does Filecoin release tokens?
Filecoin mints new FIL as block rewards, but the release is not a straight line. Simple and baseline minting both decay over time, while vesting and pledge locks hold tokens back.
- 1Follow simple mintingSimple minting pays a decreasing block reward over time.
- 2Watch baseline mintingBaseline minting ties part of the reward to network capacity against the Baseline Target. Capacity passed that target in April 2021 and fell below it by February 2023.
- 3Track vesting releasesTokens from the August 2017 initial coin offering vest over several years. Unlocks enter circulation.
- 4Account for pledge locksA storage provider must pledge FIL as collateral before taking part. The pledge keeps those tokens out of circulation until release.
Frequently asked questions
Filecoin mints new FIL as block rewards, so it grows while those rewards are paid. Burns remove tokens and can offset that growth.
Block rewards stop adding new FIL once the cap is reached. Supply then stops growing unless the protocol rules change.
Burning sends FIL to an address that cannot spend it. Those tokens leave total and circulating supply.
The cap is a protocol rule. Changing it would require a network upgrade.
