We are delighted to announce that Enzyme vault managers holding The Graph Tokens ($GRT) can now delegate to one or more Indexers on The Graph to earn rewards.

By delegating GRT tokens, Enzyme asset managers will receive a portion of the indexing rewards and query fees that Indexers generate. This is a simple and seamless way to secure The Graph’s networking and earn rewards without needing to run a node yourself.

What is The Graph?

The Graph is a decentralized protocol for indexing and querying blockchain data. Anyone can build and publish open APIs, called subgraphs, making it possible to query data that is difficult to query directly.

Blockchain properties like finality, chain reorganizations, or uncled blocks complicate this process further, and make it not just time-consuming but conceptually hard to retrieve correct query results from blockchain data.

The Graph solves this with a decentralized protocol that indexes and enables the performant and efficient querying of blockchain data. These APIs (subgraphs) can then be queried with a standard GraphQL API. Today, there is a hosted service as well as a decentralized protocol with the same capabilities. Both are backed by the open source implementation of Graph Node.

Who are The Graph’s Indexers?

Indexers are node operators in The Graph Network that stake Graph Tokens (GRT) in order to provide indexing and query processing services. Indexers earn query fees and indexing rewards for their services. They also earn from a Rebate Pool that is shared with all network contributors proportional to their work, following the Cobb-Douglas Rebate Function.

GRT that is staked in the protocol is subject to a thawing period and can be slashed if Indexers are malicious and serve incorrect data to applications or if they index incorrectly. Indexers also earn rewards for delegated stake from Delegators, to contribute to the network.

Indexers select subgraphs to index based on the subgraph’s curation signal, where Curators stake GRT in order to indicate which subgraphs are high-quality and should be prioritized. Consumers (eg. applications) can also set parameters for which Indexers process queries for their subgraphs and set preferences for query fee pricing.

How are indexing rewards distributed?

The Graph’s indexing rewards come from 3% annual issuance from the protocol. They are distributed by the protocol across subgraphs based on the proportion of all curation signals on each, then distributed by the protocol proportionally to Indexers based on their allocated stake on that subgraph. An allocation must be closed with a valid proof of indexing (POI) that meets the standards set by the arbitration charter in order to be eligible for rewards.

What are the benefits of delegating my GRT?

Delegators are network participants who delegate GRT to one or more Indexers. Delegators contribute to securing the network without running a Graph Node themselves, since Indexers use these delegated tokens to process data on the network and pass them on to end-users and applications.

By delegating to an Indexer, Delegators earn a portion of the Indexer’s indexing rewards and query fees. The amount of queries an Indexer can process depends on the Indexer’s own (and delegated) stake and the price the Indexer charges for each query, so the more stake that is allocated to an Indexer, the more potential queries they can process.

How can I delegate my GRT via Enzyme?

Thanks to this new feature, Enzyme vault managers can now seamlessly delegate GRT to any Indexer of your choosing. To get started, simply follow the steps below.

Step 1. Before Delegating

You will need to know the Indexer’s address to whom you will be delegating your GRT. Therefore, you should explore the Indexers by clicking on ‘Explore Indexers’. This will take you to a list of Indexers, where they display their own fees and rewards, please DYOR before selecting an Indexer.

Step 2. Delegate GRT

In the left-hand vault menu, navigate to “DeFi protocols” and select The Graph. Click on ‘Delegate’. Input the amount of GRT you want to delegate and paste your desired Indexer address. Finally, click on “Delegate” and confirm the transaction.

Once you have delegated to one or more Indexers, you will be able to see your current delegated positions. These can be managed at any time by clicking the ‘actions’ toggle on the right-hand side of your screen.

Step 3. Withdraw GRT

In the left-hand vault menu, navigate to “DeFi protocols” and select The Graph. On the left-hand side of your delegated position, click on the three dots and select “Undelegate”. Enter the amount of GRT you wish to undelegate and click on the “Undelegate” button.

Tip 1: Undelegated tokens are subject to a 28-day unbonding period, which means you cannot transfer your tokens or earn any rewards on these tokens for 28 days.

Tip 2: If you undelegate while there is an amount of GRT that is currently unbonding, the unbonding period will reset and the entire GRT amount will need to process for 28 days. E.g you undelegate 10 GRT today (unbonding period 28 days). Next week, however, you decide to undelegate 5 more GRT. This gives you a total of 15 GRT undelegated with a new unbonding period of 28 days from the moment of your last undelegated action.

Tip 3: If you undelegate GRT, while having unlocked GRT, the unlocked GRT will be withdrawn to the vault.

Step 4. Withdraw GRT

Once your GRT has completed its unbonding period of 28 days, you will be able to withdraw the GRT. To do this, navigate to the left-hand vault menu, go to “DeFi protocols” and select The Graph.

Next, click on the three dots to the left-hand side of your delegated position and select “Withdraw”. Enter the amount of GRT you wish to draw, click on “Withdraw” and confirm the transaction.

Additional notes

• Rewards are not claimed manually by Delegators; they are claimed by Indexers (can take up to 28 days for them to claim).
• When a user undelegates their token, a 28 days lock period is applied to the tokens. During this period, a user does not earn delegation rewards and can’t withdraw their tokens.
• Once undelegated tokens are unlocked (after 28 days), they can be withdrawn, or redelegated to another Indexer.

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