Hard Cap

A term used during initial coin offerings (ICOs) to describe the total crypto tokens that developers have made available for investors.

The hard cap is the total number of crypto tokens available during initial coin offerings (ICOs). For the project developers, this total is the upper limit for investments, meaning that they will not allow more investments if the limit is reached. For investors, however, the hard cap is the maximum funds that can be invested in a project before the development team puts a lid on investment opportunities.

The hard cap is the opposite of a soft cap, which is the minimum funding anticipated by crypto project developers during ICOs. Usually, the hard cap is one of the clearest indicators of the earnestness of the development team, the enthusiasm of investors, and the practicality of the crypto project.