What is Hard Cap?

Hard cap has two separate definitions related to blockchain. Firstly, a hard cap indicates the absolute maximum supply of a cryptocurrency that can ever be created. For example, Bitcoin has a hard-capped supply of 21 million bitcoin (BTC). The second meaning indicates the maximum amount of a currency that will be offered to investors during an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) or funding round. For example, a new blockchain project raising funds may impose a hard cap of 100 million tokens to be initially sold, meaning that only 100 million tokens can be sold during the ICO.