If you open the QNT page on Etherscan you will see a "Max Total Supply" of 45,467,000. Quant's own filings and CoinGecko report about 14.6 million. Both numbers are 'right' in the sense that they come from real sources, but they measure different things. We read the verified source code of the token contract [1][2] and checked the on-chain balances to see where the 45,467,000 comes from. Nothing here is financial advice and we make no price predictions.
The short answer
The 45,467,000 is a number typed into the contract's source code, not a count of tokens that exist. The contract returns it from totalSupply() no matter how many tokens were actually created. About 9.55 million QNT sit at the token contract's own address and cannot be moved by any function in the code. Remove those, and what remains is close to the commonly reported supply of roughly 14.6 million.
What the contract source says
The QNT token contract is at 0x4a220e6096b25eadb88358cb44068a3248254675 on Ethereum. Its source is verified, which means anyone can compare the published code with the code running on-chain [1][2]. Two details matter.
- In the BasicToken part of the code, the supply variable is initialised with a fixed value: uint256 totalSupply_ = 45467000000000000000000000; (that is 45,467,000 tokens with 18 decimals). The totalSupply() function simply returns that variable [1].
- New tokens are created by a mint(address, value) function that can only be called by one address, stored as crowdsale. mint() adds to the receiver's balance and emits a Transfer event from the zero address, but it does not change totalSupply_ [1]. So the reported total never moves, whatever has been minted.
Why that makes Etherscan's number a constant
Etherscan and most data sites ask the contract for totalSupply(). Because the contract returns a hardcoded constant, they display 45,467,000 as the maximum or total supply [3]. A normal token tracks supply as it mints and burns. This one does not, so the number tells you the author's intended ceiling at deployment, not the number of tokens in existence today.
We read totalSupply() directly from an Ethereum node when we refresh our data and it returns 45,467,000 every time. You can confirm it yourself on the Read Contract tab of Etherscan [3] or on our supply dashboard.
Where the roughly 9.55 million tokens are
When we read the QNT balance of the token contract's own address, it holds about 9,550,893 QNT [3]. Kraken's explainer, citing the Blockworks filing, says Quant burned 9,545,766 unsold tokens on 14 September 2018 and that no QNT has been created since the token sale [4][5]. The two figures are close but not identical. The difference of roughly 5,000 tokens is probably tokens sent to the contract's address by mistake over the years. We have not verified that, so treat it as a likely explanation, not a fact.
Can those tokens ever come back? We read the full source of the contract [1]. The transfer function moves tokens only from msg.sender, which is the caller. The transferFrom function needs an allowance granted by the holder through approve(), and the contract contains no code that makes it approve or transfer its own balance. mint() is restricted to the crowdsale address. The contract has no owner function, and no burn function or other path that would release the contract's balance. On our reading, tokens at that address are stuck there for good. This is our reading of the source code, not a security audit.
How the numbers line up
Reported total supply is 14,612,493 QNT, with about 14.54 million circulating per the Blockworks filing and CoinGecko [4][5][6]. Add the roughly 9.55 million at the contract's own address and you get about 24.16 million. The 45,467,000 in the code is well above both that and the circulating figure.
We also counted the tokens that were actually created. Every mint() call emits a Transfer event from the zero address, so we queried all of them from the contract's deployment block (5,392,950) to the latest block at the time of writing (about 26.3 million) from a public Ethereum RPC node. The query returned 608 mint events, all in blocks 5,851,179 to 5,852,490 on 25 June 2018, adding up to about 24,431,259 QNT, and no mint events at any time since. That is consistent with Kraken's statement that no QNT has been created since the sale [4][5]. Subtracting the 9.55 million held by the contract leaves about 14.88 million, close to but not exactly the 14.61 million reported, and we cannot reconcile the remaining gap of roughly 0.27 million from public data. Treat the minted total as our own computation from on-chain events, and the filing as the reported figure. Note that mint() stays callable by the crowdsale address recorded in the contract, so the absence of mints to date is an observation, not a guarantee.
What this means for market cap
Some sites calculate an 'on-chain market cap' by multiplying the 45,467,000 constant by the price. That figure is inflated by the tokens that do not exist or cannot move. The circulating market cap, which multiplies price by the circulating supply, is the more meaningful measure, and it is the one CoinGecko and similar aggregators lead with [6]. If you compare two tokens, compare the same measure for both. This is a note on method and says nothing about whether QNT is a good or bad purchase.
How to check this yourself
Our supply dashboard repeats these reads daily and shows the data timestamp. If you spot an error in this guide, email support@vertdata.com and we will correct it and add a dated note.
- Open the token on Etherscan, go to the Contract tab, then Code, and search for totalSupply_ [3].
- On the Read Contract tab, call totalSupply() and balanceOf with the contract's own address.
- Read the verified source on Sourcify, an independent verification repository [1][2].
- Compare with the Blockworks filing and Kraken's explainer for the reported figures [4][5].
Frequently asked questions
Why does Etherscan show 45,467,000 as QNT's max total supply?
Because the token contract hardcodes totalSupply_ at 45,467,000 tokens and totalSupply() just returns that constant. The mint function adds to balances without updating it, so the figure does not reflect tokens actually created.
What is the real QNT supply?
Sources such as the Blockworks token filing and CoinGecko report about 14.6 million total and about 14.5 million circulating. The 45,467,000 is a constant in the contract code.
Where are the other QNT tokens?
About 9.55 million QNT sit at the token contract's own address. Kraken, citing the Blockworks filing, says 9,545,766 unsold tokens were burned on 14 September 2018. The small difference is likely tokens sent there by mistake, which we have not verified.
Can the QNT at the contract address ever be moved?
On our reading of the verified source, no function lets the contract move its own balance. This is our reading of the code and not an audit.
Is the Etherscan market cap for QNT wrong?
The on-chain market cap uses the 45,467,000 constant times price, which overstates the value of tokens in circulation. Circulating market cap is the more meaningful figure. This is not financial advice.