Ethereum market cap

Market cap uses circulating supply (≈122.03 million ETH). Ethereum has no maximum supply, so there's no fully diluted valuation figure in the way bitcoin or XRP have one.

Ethereum's market capitalization is calculated with a simple formula:

Applied to current data:

Ethereum's supply: from “ultrasound money” back to mild inflation

After the Merge (15 September 2022), Ethereum switched from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, cutting new issuance by an estimated 88% (Leverage Shares). Combined with EIP-1559, which burns part of every transaction fee, Ethereum's supply briefly turned deflationary during periods of high network activity, a period often called “ultrasound money”.

That picture has since shifted. The Dencun upgrade (March 2024) cut Layer-2 transaction fees by 90–98%, which collapsed daily ETH burning from thousands of coins a day to roughly 50–70 ETH a day by early 2025, while staking issuance continued at about 1,700 ETH a day (MEXC). The result: Ethereum's supply has grown by an estimated 0.18–0.23% a year since early 2025, rather than shrinking. The Fusaka upgrade (December 2025) introduced a minimum price for the “blob” data used by Layer-2 networks, aiming to restore a burn floor.

In short: Ethereum can still become deflationary during periods of high on-chain activity, but it isn't reliably deflationary the way the 2022 “ultrasound money” narrative suggested.

Ethereum market cap by year, 2015–2026

Source: year-end prices from Digrin ETH-USD price history and Yahoo Finance; market cap calculated using estimated circulating supply at each date, interpolated between known reference points (≈72m at launch, ≈120.5m at the Merge, ≈122.03m now). Figures before 2021 are approximate. Past changes don't indicate future performance.

Ethereum's all-time high

Ethereum's price peaked at $4,945–4,954 on 24 August 2025 (Axios), finally surpassing its previous record of $4,878–4,891.70 from November 2021, which had stood for almost four years. At the record price, Ethereum's market cap was roughly $596–600 billion.

Ethereum vs bitcoin and the total crypto market

Source: CoinMarketCap (Ethereum, bitcoin); The Motley Fool (JPMorgan, Visa), September 2026.

Ethereum's market cap is currently about a fifth of bitcoin's (a ratio sometimes called the ETH/BTC ratio), down from a peak closer to a half in May 2021, when it briefly exceeded $500 billion and, for a short time, overtook JPMorgan and Visa's market caps (FXStreet). “The flippening”, a term for Ethereum's market cap overtaking bitcoin's, has not occurred and would require a substantial shift in relative prices.

FAQ

What is Ethereum's market cap today?

About $300 billion in September 2026, based on a circulating supply of roughly 122.03 million ETH (CoinMarketCap) at about $2,460 per coin.

Why doesn't Ethereum have a maximum supply?

Ethereum's issuance is governed by its proof-of-stake protocol rather than a fixed cap. Since the Merge in September 2022, new issuance has been much lower than under the old proof-of-work system, and part of every transaction fee is burned under EIP-1559, though the net effect on supply varies with network activity.

Is Ethereum's market cap bigger than Bitcoin's?

No. Bitcoin's market cap (≈$1.54tn) is roughly five times Ethereum's (≈$300bn).

Is Ethereum still “ultrasound money”?

Only partly. After the Merge, transaction-fee burning briefly made Ethereum's supply deflationary during busy periods. Since the March 2024 Dencun upgrade cut Layer-2 fees sharply, daily burning has fallen well below staking issuance, and Ethereum's supply has grown by an estimated 0.18–0.23% a year since early 2025 rather than shrinking.

What is the flippening?

A term for the hypothetical moment Ethereum's market cap overtakes bitcoin's. It has never happened; the closest Ethereum came was around May 2021, when its market cap reached roughly half of bitcoin's. In September 2026 the ratio is closer to a fifth.