How to Buy The Graph (GRT)
Beginner’s Guide
What Is The Graph (GRT)?
The Graph (GRT) is an open-source blockchain project that allows developers to build and access decentralized applications (dApps) built on various blockchain networks, including Ethereum, IPFS, and others. The Graph provides a decentralized indexing protocol for querying blockchain data, which enables developers to easily and efficiently search, organize, and present data from blockchains in a meaningful way.
In other words, The Graph is a decentralized infrastructure that enables developers to index and query data from different blockchain networks. With The Graph, developers can build dApps that require access to blockchain data without having to run a full node themselves. The protocol incentivizes node operators to index and serve data, and token holders can participate in governance by staking their GRT tokens to secure the network and vote on proposals. The GRT token is used as a medium of exchange, governance, and incentives within The Graph ecosystem.
How to Buy The Graph Summary
- Get a The Graph wallet (e.g. Ledger, Trezor ,Guardia, Exodus , AtomicWallet)
- Find an exchange that sells The Graph (e.g. Binance, Kucoin, Crypto, GATE, MEXC)
- Deposit money and make the trade
- Withdraw the The Graph to your wallet
Buying The Graph in 3 Simple Steps
Step 1 – Get a The Graph (GRT) wallet
The Graph Hardware Wallets
As of my knowledge cutoff date of September 2021, The Graph (GRT) can be stored in hardware wallets that support Ethereum-based tokens. Here are some popular hardware wallets that can be used to store GRT:
Ledger Nano S: Ledger Nano S is a popular hardware wallet that supports Ethereum and all its ERC-20 tokens, including GRT.
Trezor: Trezor is another popular hardware wallet that supports Ethereum and its tokens, including GRT.
KeepKey: KeepKey is a hardware wallet that supports Ethereum and all its ERC-20 tokens, including GRT.
It’s important to note that before using any hardware wallet, it’s important to ensure that the wallet supports the specific cryptocurrency you want to store. It’s also important to follow the setup and backup procedures for the hardware wallet to ensure the security of your funds.
The best option for storing any cryptocurrency would be to use a hardware wallet. These are pieces of hardware that store the private key to your coins offline.
Today, there are two leading hardware manufacturers to choose from – Ledger and TREZOR. Both companies have different models of hardware wallets that will get the job done.
If you want deeper insights on specific models, you can read my Ledger Nano X review or my TREZOR Model T review.
The Graph Software Wallets
The Graph (GRT) can be stored in software wallets that support Ethereum-based tokens. Here are some popular software wallets that can be used to store GRT:
MyEtherWallet (MEW): MEW is a popular Ethereum wallet that allows users to store, manage, and trade Ethereum and its tokens, including GRT.
Trust Wallet: Trust Wallet is a mobile wallet that supports Ethereum and all its ERC-20 tokens, including GRT.
Exodus: Exodus is a desktop wallet that supports Ethereum and its tokens, including GRT.
Atomic Wallet: Atomic Wallet is a multi-currency desktop wallet that supports Ethereum and all its ERC-20 tokens, including GRT.
Coinbase Wallet: Coinbase Wallet is a mobile wallet that allows users to store, manage, and trade Ethereum and its tokens, including GRT.
It’s important to note that before using any software wallet, it’s important to ensure that the wallet supports the specific cryptocurrency you want to store. It’s also important to follow the security measures recommended by the wallet provider to ensure the safety of your funds.
Hardware wallets cost money, so if you’re not sure how serious you are about cryptocurrencies and just want to get a taste of what they feel like, perhaps you would be better off starting with a software wallet.
A software wallet is a free program that lets you store your coins on your computer or mobile phone.
The easiest The Graph software wallets to get started with are undoubtedly Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda . All wallets are very intuitive. Exodus, Atomic Wallet and Guarda is available on desktop for Windows, Mac and Linux, as well as on mobile for both iOS and Android. If you want more information you can read my Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda review.
Step 2 – Find an The Graph (GRT) Exchange
Buy The Graph (GRT) through Binance
- Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange which is the largest exchange in the world in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2017 and is registered in the Cayman Islands. Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high frequency trading software.
Buy The Graph (GRT) through Kucoin
- Kucoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange for numerous digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Launched in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges and already has over 8 million registered users from 700+ countries and regions. According to Alexa traffic ranking, KuCoin’s monthly unique ranking is in the top 5 globally. Known as the “People’s Exchange”, KuCoin operates in Seychelles, providing users with multi-language and 24/7 customer service. Meanwhile, KuCoin has established local communities all over the world in South Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey, Russia, India, and other regions, providing users with the most local services. Currently, 1 out of every 4 crypto holders in the world is with KuCoin.
Buy The Graph (GRT) through Crypto.com
- Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange company based in Singapore. As of May 2022, the company reportedly had 50 million customers and 4,000 employees. The exchange issues a token, Cronos.The company was initially founded in Hong Kong by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo in 2016 as “Monaco”. In 2018, the company was renamed as Crypto.com following a purchase of a domain owned by cryptography researcher and professor Matt Blaze. Domain sellers valued the domain at US$5–10 million.
Buy The Graph (GRT) through Gate.io
- Gate.io is a crypto exchange founded in the fall of 2017. The platform is a part of Gate Technology Inc corporation, and has a registration address in Virginia, USA. The platform does not have an official license. Its interface is available for working in three versions: English, Chinese and Japanese.
Buy The Graph (GRT) through MEXC
- Founded in 2018, MEXC Global is known as the exchange of high performance and mega transaction matching technology. The team at MEXC Global are some of the first movers and pioneers of financial and blockchain technology. Currently, MEXC Global caters to 10 M+ users in more than 170 countries around the world and we have just started.
Step 3 – Withdraw Your The Graph (GRT)
Once you decide on an exchange, open an account and buy your The Graph (GRT). Make sure to withdraw the The Graph (GRT) from the exchange to your personal wallet.
Never leave coins on an exchange, as you risk losing them all if that exchange gets hacked or shuts down (which has happened in the past).
OVERVIEW
What Is The Graph (GRT)?
The Graph is an indexing protocol for querying data for networks like Ethereum and IPFS, powering many applications in both DeFi and the broader Web3 ecosystem. Anyone can build and publish open APIs, called subgraphs, that applications can query using GraphQL to retrieve blockchain data. There is a hosted service in production that makes it easy for developers to get started building on The Graph and the decentralized network will be launching later this year. The Graph currently supports indexing data from Ethereum, IPFS and POA, with more networks coming soon.
To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of The Graph.
To date, over 3,000 subgraphs have been deployed by thousands of developers, for DApps like Uniswap, Synthetix, Aragon, AAVE, Gnosis, Balancer, Livepeer, DAOstack, Decentraland and many others. The Graph usage has been growing at over 50% MoM and hit over 7 billion queries during the month of September 2020.
The Graph has a global community, including over 200 Indexer Nodes in the testnet and more than 2,000 Curators in the Curator Program as of October 2020. To fund network development, The Graph raised funds from community members, strategic VCs and influential individuals in the blockchain community including Coinbase Ventures, DCG, Framework, ParaFi Capital, CoinFund, DTC, Multicoin, Reciprocal Ventures, SPC, Tally Capital and others. The Graph Foundation also successfully completed a public GRT Sale with participation from 99 countries (not including the U.S.). To date as of November 2020, The Graph has raised ~$25M.
Who Are the Founders of The Graph?
There are several aspects that make The Graph unique:
Decentralized indexing: The Graph is a decentralized indexing protocol that allows developers to index and query blockchain data in a decentralized and trustless manner. This means that developers can build dApps that rely on blockchain data without having to run a full node themselves, making the development process more efficient and scalable.
Multi-blockchain support: The Graph supports indexing and querying data from various blockchain networks, including Ethereum, IPFS, and others. This means that developers can build dApps that utilize data from multiple blockchains, making it easier to build interoperable applications.
Incentivized network: The Graph protocol is designed to incentivize node operators to index and serve data, and token holders can participate in governance by staking their GRT tokens to secure the network and vote on proposals. This creates a decentralized and self-sustaining ecosystem where node operators are rewarded for providing valuable indexing services, and token holders can participate in network governance and decision-making.
Focus on developer experience: The Graph is focused on providing a developer-friendly experience, with an easy-to-use API and tools that make it easy for developers to integrate blockchain data into their applications. This focus on developer experience has led to a growing community of developers and dApps built on The Graph.
Overall, The Graph’s decentralized indexing protocol, multi-blockchain support, incentivized network, and focus on developer experience make it a unique and valuable tool for building decentralized applications.
What Makes The Graph Unique?
The Graph is working to bring reliable decentralized public infrastructure to the mainstream market. To ensure economic security of The Graph Network and the integrity of data being queried, participants use Graph Token (GRT). GRT is a work token that is locked-up by Indexers, Curators and Delegators in order to provide indexing and curating services to the network.
GRT will be an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, used to allocate resources in the network. Active Indexers, Curators and Delegators can earn income from the network proportional to the amount of work they perform and their GRT stake. Indexers earn indexing rewards (new issuance) and query fees, while Curators earn a portion of query fees for the subgraphs they signal on. Delegators earn a portion of income earned by the Indexer they delegate to.
How Many The Graph (GRT) Coins Are There in Circulation?
Total GRT supply at mainnet launch will be 10 billion tokens, with an initial circulating supply of ~1,245,666,867 GRT. New token issuance in the form of indexing rewards will begin at 3% annually and is subject to future technical governance by The Graph Council. You can read about GRT token economics here and distribution information here.
How Is The Graph Network Secured?
The Graph has built an open data layer on top of blockchains: Indexers can run their own Ethereum archive nodes to run Graph Node, or they can use node operators like Infura or Alchemy.
Any analytics company can build an application to query subgraph data that’s indexed by The Graph. Subgraphs are open APIs to be able to pull data from the blockchain in the most seamless and efficient way.
Where Can You Buy The Graph ?
The Graph (GRT) can be bought and sold on various cryptocurrency exchanges. Here are some popular exchanges where you can buy GRT:
Binance: Binance is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy and sell GRT with a wide range of other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
Coinbase: Coinbase is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy and sell GRT with fiat currencies, such as USD, EUR, and GBP.
Kraken: Kraken is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy and sell GRT with a wide range of other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
Huobi: Huobi is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy and sell GRT with a wide range of other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
Bitfinex: Bitfinex is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy and sell GRT with a wide range of other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
It’s important to note that cryptocurrency exchanges may have different fees, trading pairs, and security measures, so it’s important to do your own research and choose a reputable exchange that meets your needs. Additionally, always remember to store your GRT in a secure wallet that you control the private keys to.