A relatively unknown crypto asset that was conceived in 2017 just witnessed its market capitalization soar to more than $500 million in less than 48 hours after its launch.
The Graph (GRT) is an Ethereum-based indexing protocol that enables users to query data from the blockchain in a decentralized manner. Prior to the existence of The Graph, teams found it extremely difficult to extract high-quality data from the blockchain.
“Before The Graph, teams had to develop and operate proprietary indexing servers. This required significant engineering and hardware resources and broke the important security properties required for decentralization.”
Dubbed as the Google of Web 3.0, The Graph relies on a network of individuals to allow consumers or end-users to efficiently access blockchain data. Indexers are node operators who stake GRT to provide services such as indexing and query processing. They generate income from query fees in the form of GRT.
Delegators are individuals who don’t wish to run nodes, but can still contribute to network security by staking GRT on behalf of an indexer. For their services, they earn a portion of the indexer fees and rewards.
Curators are usually developers who deploy GRT to signal to indexers which APIs or subgraphs should be indexed by the protocol.
The Graph’s technology is already being used to power top decentralized finance (DeFi) projects including decentralized exchange Uniswap (UNI), derivatives trading platform Synthetix (SNX) and lending protocol Aave.
Hours after its December 18th launch, GRT’s market cap surged from $165 million to $521 million on December 19th. In terms of price, GRT skyrocketed from $0.135 on launch day to as high as $0.569 on December 19th, representing an increase of over 321% in a 48-hour period.
Prominent crypto analyst and trader Josh Rager is already telling his 94,700 followers that they should keep a close watch on GRT.
“Pay attention to GRT. DeFi + actual working product. Many don’t understand GRT or the fact that Uniswap currently operates on The Graph. Already listed on the top exchanges – it’s easy to see GRT’s potential as big DeFi player.”
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Featured Image: Shutterstock/Liu zishan