The Graph (GRT): how it works, supply and reviews
In short
- Type
- Indexing protocol and data network that runs on Ethereum and Arbitrum One, not a separate blockchain
- Initial distribution
- Initial supply of 10 billion GRT
- Risks and caveats
- Total GRT supply grows by a 3% annual issuance target, offset only partly by burns of about 1% per year
- Checked
- 31 October 2026
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Key facts
- Ticker
- GRT
- Official site
- thegraph.com
Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources.
What is The Graph
The Graph is a decentralised protocol for indexing and querying blockchain data. Independent Indexers serve data through Subgraphs (GraphQL APIs) and Substreams, and GRT is the token used to stake, delegate, curate and pay query fees.
Network and consensus
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Indexing protocol and data network that runs on Ethereum and Arbitrum One, not a separate blockchain |
| Products | Subgraphs (custom GraphQL APIs) and Substreams (parallel, real-time data streams) |
| Query language | Subgraphs are queried with GraphQL; query fees are paid in GRT |
| Participants | Indexers, Delegators, Curators and Developers, plus Fishermen and Arbitrators |
| Indexer stake | Indexers must self-stake at least 100,000 GRT and can accept delegation up to 16 times their self-stake |
| Smart contracts | Protocol contracts are written in Solidity; Graph Horizon is the next iteration of the protocol |
Supply and issuance
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Initial distribution | Initial supply of 10 billion GRT |
| Issuance | Target new issuance of 3% per year, paid to Indexers as indexing rewards |
| Fee burn | 0.5% delegation tax, 1% curation tax and 1% of query fees are burned; about 1% of supply burned per year |
| Slashing | A slashed Indexer loses 2.5% of self-stake (half burned) and half of the epoch's indexing rewards are burned |
| Unbonding | Delegated GRT is unbonded over 28 epochs, about 26 days |
| Foundation allocation | 20% of GRT allocated to The Graph Foundation on a 10-year unlocking schedule (2020 plan) |
What GRT is used for
- Staking by Indexers who serve data to the network
- Delegation to Indexers in return for a share of query fees and indexing rewards
- Curation: signalling GRT on Subgraphs to earn curation shares
- Paying query fees for Subgraph data
Who develops and governs The Graph
- Governance
- Protocol upgrades and the treasury are overseen by The Graph Council, which votes on Graph Improvement Proposals (GIPs)
- Council
- The Council is a 6-of-10 multisig representing Indexers, token holders, the initial team, users and domain experts
- Foundation
- The Graph Foundation funds grants, supports core contributors and leads decentralisation efforts
- Developer
- The initial team, Graph Protocol, Inc., renamed itself Edge & Node in 2020
- Open source
- Protocol contracts are published in the graphprotocol GitHub organisation
History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| July 2017 | The founders of Graph Protocol, Inc. conceived The Graph and began full-time work in December 2017 |
| July 2018 | The Graph was publicly introduced as a decentralised indexing protocol for Web3 |
| 6 October 2020 | The Graph Foundation was announced; Graph Protocol, Inc. became Edge & Node |
| 13 October 2020 | The GRT sale was announced ahead of the decentralised network's mainnet launch |
| 28 August 2023 | L2 Transfer Tools were released to move stake, delegation and Subgraphs to Arbitrum One |
| 8 February 2024 | Edge & Node proposed Graph Horizon, the next iteration of the protocol |
Security and audits
- Bug bounty on Immunefi with rewards paid in GRT on Arbitrum, up to $50,000 for critical reports
- Misbehaving Indexers can be slashed after disputes raised by Fishermen and decided by Arbitrators
Security incidents
No security incident is recorded in the sources checked on 31 October 2026 (the company’s own channels and incident databases): api.llama.fi/hacks, rekt.news/leaderboard, hacked.slowmist.io/search, thegraph.com/blog, api.github.com/repos/graphprotocol/contracts/sec, api.github.com/repos/graphprotocol/graph-node/se, status.thegraph.com
Official GRT contracts
| Network | Contract address |
|---|---|
| Ethereum | 0xc944e90c64b2c07662a292be6244bdf05cda44a7 |
| Arbitrum One | 0x9623063377AD1B27544C965cCd7342f7EA7e88C7 |
GRT token addresses as listed in The Graph documentation.
Risks and caveats
- Total GRT supply grows by a 3% annual issuance target, offset only partly by burns of about 1% per year
- Protocol changes are approved by a 6-of-10 Council multisig rather than an on-chain token vote
- Delegators wait about 26 days to withdraw and share in Indexer slashing outcomes through reduced rewards
Official links
- Website: thegraph.com
- Docs: thegraph.com/docs/en
- Source code: github.com/graphprotocol
- Governance forum: forum.thegraph.com
- Blog: thegraph.com/blog
Questions and answers
What is The Graph?
A decentralised protocol that indexes blockchain data and serves it to applications through Subgraphs and Substreams.
What is GRT used for?
GRT is staked by Indexers, delegated by Delegators, signalled by Curators and used by developers to pay query fees.
What is the supply of GRT?
The initial supply was 10 billion GRT, with a target of 3% new issuance per year and about 1% burned annually (docs, 31 October 2026).
Who governs The Graph?
The Graph Council, a 6-of-10 multisig, approves Graph Improvement Proposals, supported by The Graph Foundation and core developers.
Sources
- The Graph Docs - Tokenomics
- The Graph Docs - About
- The Graph - Governance
- The Graph Blog - GRT Sale
- The Graph Blog - Foundation
- The Graph Blog - Council
- The Graph Blog - Network in depth
- The Graph Blog - Arbitrum L2 Transfer Tools
- The Graph Blog - Graph Horizon
- graphprotocol/contracts README
- The Graph bug bounty (Immunefi, linked from thegraph.com/security)
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