Understanding The Graph
The Graph stands as a pivotal indexing protocol revolutionizing data querying for networks such as Ethereum and IPFS. It serves as the backbone for numerous applications within the realms of DeFi and the broader Web3 ecosystem. The protocol empowers developers to construct and deploy open APIs, known as subgraphs, facilitating blockchain data retrieval through GraphQL. Currently, The Graph offers a hosted service for developers to kickstart their projects, with plans for a decentralized network launch in the near future. Presently, The Graph supports data indexing from Ethereum, IPFS, and POA, with additional network integrations on the horizon.
For a more comprehensive understanding of The Graph, delve into our in-depth exploration of the project.
The Graph in Action
To date, over 3,000 subgraphs have been deployed by a myriad of developers, catering to DApps like Uniswap, Synthetix, Aragon, AAVE, Gnosis, Balancer, Livepeer, DAOstack, Decentraland, and many others. The Graph's usage has been witnessing exponential growth, surpassing 7 billion queries during September 2020 alone.
The project boasts a global community, featuring over 200 Indexer Nodes in the testnet and more than 2,000 Curators enrolled in the Curator Program as of October 2020. To fuel network development, The Graph garnered support from community members, strategic venture capitalists, and notable figures within the blockchain space, including Coinbase Ventures, DCG, Framework, ParaFi Capital, CoinFund, DTC, Multicoin, Reciprocal Ventures, SPC, Tally Capital, and others. Additionally, The Graph Foundation successfully conducted a public GRT Sale, with participants hailing from 99 countries (excluding the U.S.). As of November 2020, The Graph has raised approximately $25M.
Visionaries Behind The Graph
The Graph's team comprises professionals from esteemed organizations such as the Ethereum Foundation, OpenZeppelin, Decentraland, Orchid, MuleSoft (prior to its acquisition by Salesforce), Puppet, Redhat, and Barclays.
The founding trio consists of Yaniv Tal (project lead), Brandon Ramirez (research lead), and Jannis Pohlmann (tech lead). With engineering backgrounds and years of collaboration, Tal and Ramirez, alumni of USC with degrees in electrical engineering, previously collaborated at MuleSoft, an API developer tools company that underwent an IPO and was later acquired by Salesforce. Their shared vision stems from their prior involvement in optimizing the API stack and their experience in building a custom framework on an immutable database called Datomic. The inception of The Graph emerged from their aspiration to establish immutable APIs and data access utilizing the GraphQL query language.
Unique Features of The Graph
The Graph endeavors to democratize decentralized public infrastructure, prioritizing economic security and data integrity. The Graph Token (GRT) serves as a pivotal work token, locked up by Indexers, Curators, and Delegators to furnish indexing and curating services to the network.
GRT, an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, plays a crucial role in resource allocation within the network. Active participants can earn income proportional to their contributions and GRT stake. Indexers receive rewards for indexing and query fees, while Curators earn a portion of query fees for the subgraphs they endorse. Delegators also receive a share of income generated by the Indexer they delegate to.
Circulation and Security of The Graph Network
At mainnet launch, the total GRT supply will amount to 10 billion tokens, with an initial circulating supply of approximately 1,245,666,867 GRT. New token issuance, primarily in the form of indexing rewards, is set at 3% annually, subject to future technical governance by The Graph Council. For detailed insights into GRT token economics and distribution, refer to our dedicated resources.
Securing The Graph Network
The Graph has established an open data layer atop blockchains, enabling Indexers to operate Ethereum archive nodes to run Graph Node. Alternatively, they can utilize node operators like Infura or Alchemy. Any analytics company can develop applications to query subgraph data indexed by The Graph. Subgraphs serve as open APIs, facilitating seamless and efficient blockchain data retrieval.
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