Tokens that claim a fixed supply but can still be minted
Data sites list a "max supply" for nearly every token, and it reads like a property of the token. For a token it is not: it is a number someone typed. What fixes a token's supply is its contract — whether a mint function exists, who may call it, and what stops them. CoinSpectrum checked who can mint for 80 tokens, on chain where possible. Forty can still be minted, and several of them say otherwise.
Can a token with a fixed supply be minted?
Yes, if its contract still has a mint function and someone holds the right to call it. A fixed supply is real only when the mint authority has been renounced or no mint function exists. Among 80 tokens checked, 40 could still be minted — by a company, a multisig or a governance vote — including several marketed as fixed.
Where the claim and the contract disagree
| Token | What is claimed | What the contract allows |
|---|---|---|
| Grass (GRASS) | Fixed supply of 1 billion | The Solana mint still had an active mint authority in October 2026: a plain wallet. |
| Sentient (SENT) | Fixed maximum supply | An admin role can set an inflation rate of up to about 10% a year of the initial supply, and another role can mint it. |
| Derive (DRV) | No new tokens | An upgradeable contract owned by a multisig; 500 million (+50%) was minted to the Derive Foundation in 2025. |
| LEO Token (LEO) | 1 billion sold in 2019, bought back and burned over time | On Ethereum, iFinex's controller contract can still create new tokens, with no cap and no vote. |
| ASI Alliance (FET) | A set supply | An uncapped minter role, granted by an admin; it was used in 2024 to mint about 1.48 billion FET for the AGIX and OCEAN merger. |
| Decentraland (MANA) | Supply set after the 2017 sale | Minting was never finished on chain; the crowdsale contract's owner can still hand minting to a new sale contract. |
| Backpack (BP) | Launched supply | Mint authority and freeze authority both still set on the Solana mint, not renounced. |
| PancakeSwap (CAKE) | Supply caps of 450M (2023) and 400M (2026) | The caps were set by Snapshot votes; on chain, the team-run MasterChef owner can mint without them. |
From CoinSpectrum's token research, October 2026. Contracts can change after a check; each source is linked, and the token's own page carries the full note.
Tokens that mint only by holder vote
Some tokens can be minted, but only through a token-holder vote, usually with a yearly cap built into the contract: Uniswap and Arbitrum (up to 2% a year through their governance timelocks), Ethereum Name Service (2% a year by DAO vote), Lido (through an LDO-holder vote), Fluid (2% per mint, a year apart) and Railgun (up to its cap, by staker vote). That is still new supply, but it is decided by holders rather than by a company, which is why the grade scores it between a fixed supply and an issuer's key.
Tokens whose issuer controls new supply
Many tokens have a published emission schedule that the issuer, not the holders, can change: Optimism (up to 2% a year, owned by the Foundation multisig), POL (about 2% a year, upgraded through Polygon's own process), The Graph (issuance rate set by a council multisig), EigenLayer (4% a year, granted by a Foundation-side Safe), Starknet, Pendle and Zama. A schedule is only as fixed as the key that can change it.
How to check a token yourself
- Solana tokens. Open the mint address on a block explorer and read two fields: mint authority and freeze authority. "None" means renounced. Any address means someone can mint or freeze.
- Ethereum and EVM tokens. Read the verified contract. Look for a
mintfunction and what guards it —onlyOwner, a minter role, a controller — then look up who the owner or role holder is: a person's wallet, a multisig, a timelock run by a DAO, or nobody. - Upgradeable contracts. A proxy whose admin can swap the code can add a mint function later, even if today's code has none. Who holds the upgrade key matters as much as who holds the mint key.
How the grade scores it
For a token, the CoinSpectrum Grade's minting criterion asks exactly this: a fixed supply with no mint authority scores 10, minting only through a token-holder vote 5.4, and an issuer, foundation, multisig or admin key 0. A token counts as capped only when nobody can mint past the cap — a "maximum supply" that an issuer can exceed earns nothing.
Questions
What does "mint authority renounced" mean?
That the right to create new tokens has been given up permanently, usually by setting it to no address. After that, nobody can mint more, and the supply is fixed by the contract rather than by a promise.
Does a max supply on CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap mean a token cannot be minted?
No. The figure is reported, not enforced. Whether a token can be minted depends on its contract and on who holds the mint authority.
Can GRASS be minted?
In October 2026 its Solana mint still had an active mint authority, a plain wallet, despite the stated fixed supply of one billion. Check the mint on a Solana explorer for the current state.
Is a token that mints by governance vote safe from inflation?
Safer than one an issuer controls, not immune: holders can vote for new supply, usually within a yearly cap written into the contract.
How do I check if a token can be minted?
On Solana, read the mint authority on the token's mint address. On Ethereum and other EVM chains, read the verified contract for a mint function and find out who controls it, including who can upgrade the contract.