Hard Cap

A hard cap is the maximum quantity of a specific cryptoasset that may be produced, as strictly enforced by the underlying software logic.

The way in which a hard cap is enforced may vary based on a cryptoasset's origin. For instance, Bitcoin's hard cap is enforced by a limit encoded in its source code, which canonical chain-compliant network nodes enforce by default. However, in the case of an ERC-20 token, a hard cap is enforced by smart contract logic which may express a function such as 'ERC20Capped'.