The Graph Token Sale Raises $12 Million in 24 Hours
2 min read
The Graph, a blockchain data company providing services for some of DeFi’s most popular apps, has raised $12 million in a token sale that sold out in just over 24 hours.
The Graph Foundation announced today the successful sale of 400 million GRT tokens for $12 million in funding, performed entirely on-chain using The Graph’s own technology. The sale represents 4% of the total GRT supply and included 4,500 participants across 90 countries.
Last week, The Graph sold out the GRT Sale to Indexers, Curators, & Delegators. We’re so excited to welcome 4,500+ O.G.s (Original Graphers) to the community!
This is one of the final milestones ahead of The Graph Network launch
https://t.co/biRN4nACaP
— The Graph (@graphprotocol) October 28, 2020
The tokens will serve a key role in scaling The Graph’s services over the coming years, as DeFi app growth fuels the need for vast amounts of blockchain data at high speed.
The Graph helps customers access blockchain data through more familiar database interface languages like SQL, easing the integration of the data into blockchain-based applications. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, applications are a major source of demand for data from The Graph, as they use blockchain data to help set interest rates on loans and customer deposits.
Data from The Graph is so essential, in fact, that a glitch in the system caused by explosive demand led to issues at several DeFi services for hours, including at lending protocol Aave and decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch.exchange.
The Graph announced the token sale on October 13 and took registrations from more than 14,000 non-US residents until October 15. Seventy-five percent of tokens were purchased in the first 24 hours by 3,000 select participants with strong connections to The Graph’s community.
The Graph plans to launch its mainnet network within the next two months, which will allow token holders and other infrastructure operators tfo begin staking and earning tokens by facilitating data requests from The Graph customers. GRT tokens purchased during the sale are non-transferable until after the mainnet launch.
The Graph has proven itself an essential part of DeFi infrastructure, and could continue to grow its customer base as more companies store and search for data on the decentralized Web 3.0. Just like Ethereum, The Graph is gearing up for the future with an eye on decentralization and scaling, and the successful GRT token sale should help with both.
