What Is The Graph and What Is Its Role?
The Graph indexes blockchain data so apps can query it, and its GRT token pays for that indexing work. It is not a blockchain or a single database.
Vahe HakobyanEditor-in-chief
Updated Oct 6, 20263 min readFact-checked
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- Indexers stake GRT to process queries.
- A subgraph defines which data an app can query.
- GRT is an ERC20 token on Ethereum.
Its role is to act as a search layer for blockchain data. Developers use it to build dashboards, wallets, and DeFi apps.
What Is The Graph's Role?
Its role is to organize blockchain data and answer requests for it. It reads from blockchains and serves the results to software, and it keeps no ledger of its own.
How Does The Graph Work?
Developers publish a subgraph to describe the data they want from a chain. The network answers app requests through GraphQL APIs, and apps read the results. GRT, an ERC20 token on Ethereum, coordinates that work.
- Indexers run nodes, stake GRT, and process queries.
- Curators signal GRT toward useful subgraphs.
- Delegators back indexers with GRT.
- Consumers pay query fees in GRT.
Who Created The Graph?
The Graph Network launched its mainnet in December 2020. Yaniv Tal, Brandon Ramirez, and Jannis Pohlmann created the project. They later helped form Edge & Node, a core development company for The Graph.
What Risks Should You Know?
GRT is a smart contract token, so flaws in that code can affect it. Holding GRT does not give you a claim on company equity or profits. Community members publish subgraphs, and one may contain errors or leave out data.
Frequently asked questions
A subgraph is a file a developer writes that names the contracts and events to follow on a chain. Anyone can publish one, and its author decides what it covers.
No. Reading a public subgraph does not require holding GRT. The token is used for staking and for query fees on the network.
Not automatically. Indexing a chain takes node support and a subgraph that someone publishes.
Its community governs it through proposals and votes, with The Graph Foundation supporting the process.
