The Graph

What is a graph (GRT)?

GRT is a native token Schedulewhich is a data indexing protocol. It acts as a middle layer for networks such as the POA network, Ethereum blockchain, Interplanetary File System and others. If you’re interested in the current price of Graph, check out the GRT price chart above.

Essentially, anyone can use The Graph protocol to create subgraphs. Subgraphs are open Application programming interfaces (APIs). Once subgraphs are created, they become part of the larger global blockchain data graph. In addition, a subgraph cannot be deleted or its name changed.

Subgraphs can be queried by decentralized applications (dApps) using GraphQL to collect blockchain data. In other words, subgraphs act as data stores for specific applications. They specify what data from another blockchain will be indexed by The Graph and how it will be stored.

Founders of the Earl

Yaniv Tal, Brandon Ramirez and Jannis Pohlmann are the founders of Graph. The project was founded in July 2018. However, its mainnet was released in December 2020. At launch, Graph’s price was around $0.12.

The Graph crypto project essentially arose from the idea of ​​developing Immutable GraphQL-based APIs and data access.

Before founding The Graph, Yaniv Tal, Brandon Ramirez, and Jannis Pohlmann also co-founded a company that sold developer tools. While working on this project, the founders developed a unique structure on top of the immutable Datomic database.

In addition, they also developed Graf Foundation in 2020. The Foundation primarily coordinates and promotes The Graph ecosystem.

In February 2021, the price of GRT exceeded $1 for the first time. In general, the token tends to follow the general trends of the cryptocurrency market.

How does a graph network work?

Both tech-savvy people and non-techies can contribute to The Graph Network and the open data economy because there are different roles. These roles include:

• Indexers. These are the Graph Network node operators who stake Graph tokens. At the same time, indexers offer services such as indexing and query processing. Indexers receive indexing fees and query fees.
• Curators. They are either community members, data consumers, or subgraph developers. Essentially, curators tell indexers which APIs the Graph network should index. To signal a specific subgraph, curators contribute a GRT to the communication curve. In return, they receive a share of the query fees for the subgraphs they signal.
• Delegators. These are people who want to help secure the network, but don’t want to run their own graph nodes. Delegators participate by contributing GRT to active indexers and in return receive a share of query fees and indexing incentives.
• Consumers. These are the real users of The Graph—the ones who query subgraphs and pay indexers, curators, and delegates fees for queries. Clients are often developers or projects who pay request fees for their dApps in the same way they pay for AWS or cloud services.

The Graph network is managed Council of Earls, which consists of five groups: indexers, users, researchers, supporters and core developers. They manage the public treasury in partnership with The Graph Foundation and vote for Schedule Improvement Proposals (GIP)which include technical updates and core development strategy.

To protect the Graph network, Bug Bounty program Used. Essentially, users receive GRT tokens for discovering flaws in the protocol. Rewards range in value from $100 to $50,000 in GRT. The amount that the bounty hunter will receive depends on the complexity and severity of the acquired system error.

Purpose of GRT tokens

The Graph token is a utility token based on the ERC-20 token standard. GRT tokens have three main use cases:

• GRT tokens can be used for staking.
• GRT tokens can be used to pay rewards to members of The Graph protocol.
• GRT tokens can be used to eliminate single points of failure and decentralize The Graph protocol.

Tokenomics of GRT tokens

GRT is a deflationary token with a maximum number of tokens of 10 billion. To prevent exceeding The Graph’s maximum coin count, about 1% of commissions for deposits and requests are burned. As available supply shrinks, the price of GRT is expected to increase.

In October 2020, The Graph held a public sale of GRT tokens. During the sale, 4500 people from 99 different countries bought 400 million tokens. These buyers are called original graphers as they were the first to purchase GRT tokens and participate in the Graph network. Interestingly, people from the United States were not allowed to participate in this private sale.

The bulk of GRT tokens, amounting to 58%, are allocated by the Graph Foundation. The foundation conducts sales using these tokens and distributes them as rewards. The remainder of The Graph Coins is distributed between the community, The Graph team, advisors, sponsors, and Edge & Node (the software development arm of the Graph Foundation).

Graph price is considered moderately volatile. You can see its historical performance in the chart above.