Circulating Supply for The Graph’s GRT Token Jumps With Major Framework Ventures Unlock

The circulating supply for The Graph, a data query protocol for blockchains, jumped over 1% this week after venture backer Framework withdrew 99 million GRT tokens worth some $7 million - the address’s biggest withdrawal ever - from the Graph’s GRT staking contract.

On Jan. 9, Framework Ventures sent 99 million GRT, worth roughly $7 million, to Coinbase moments after triggering transactions to withdraw from the Graph’s GRT staking contract and token lockup contract.

By withdrawing tokens from the Graph’s Token Lockup contract, Framework Ventures increased the circulating supply of the Graph’s GRT token, which currently stands at some 7.4 billion, data from CoinGecko and Messari shows.

The number of GRT transferred by Framework Ventures is among the 10 largest GRT transactions in at least the past 12 months, per Nansen.

A transfer of this size “is enormous, accounting for 1% of the circulation” wrote CryptoQuant’s Head of Marketing Hochan Chung in a telegram conversation with CoinDesk.

Even so, GRT has hovered around $0.07 since the Jan. 9 transfers with no major downside movements.

This is the second time Framework prompted transactions to withdraw from the Graph’s GRT staking contract and token lockup contract with the first time occurring on Oct. 10 (tx1, tx2 and tx3).

On Jan. 9 11:38:35 p.m. UTC, a Framework Ventures wallet triggered a transaction to withdraw 99 million GRT from the Graph’s Staking Proxy contract and into a Token Lockup contract. Framework then transferred the $7 million sum to a wallet under its control before ultimately sending it to Coinbase. Nansen had labeled each 0x address.

Framework Ventures has been a long-time backer of the Graph: In the summer of 2020, the Graph raised $5 million in a token sale with Framework Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, CoinDesk parent Digital Currency Group and others.

The Graph, which indexes and queries blockchain data, has 19 active developers, according to Artemis Analytics. Its GRT token is “used to secure and govern the network and to incentivize behaviors that are critical for the network to thrive,” as stated in The Graph’s whitepaper.

It's impossible to know if Framework has sold its GRT tokens on Coinbase; the fund did not return a request for comment by press time. But simply withdrawing its tokens from a staking contract means Framework may be forgoing future staking profits.

Staking rewards on The Graph Network vary, depending on what indexer or node operator a user decides to choose when staking their GRT tokens. The estimated APR for the top 10 indexers by revenue range from as low as 7.01% to as high as 10.99%, at press time.

Framework co-founder Vance Spencer has previously spoken about his fund’s long-term buy-and-hold mantra for those he considers to be a “really good team.”

“Our bias is to just basically hold that until infinity, and we do that with probably 90 to 95% of the Framework Ventures book,” he said in an April 2021 episode of the UpOnly Podcast.

The Graph did not return a request for comment by press time.