GRT is a utility token used by participants of the network (Indexers, Curators, Delegators, Data Consumers) to stake and pay for query fees.

Demand for GRT comes from participants of the network who have to stake to access it:
Delegators who are looking to earn returns by staking their tokens, Indexers who earn rewards for indexing and querying data on the network, Curators who signal subgraphs to generate rewards, and Data consumers who need GRT to pay for query services.

The Graph creates value by allowing dapps to search and access the blockchain without proprietary indexing services. It powers many popular dapps and DeFi protocols by providing a decentralized protocol for querying data on blockchains and storage networks.

GRT token helps to align incentives of the participant of the network. Indexers, Curators, and Delegators are required to stake GRT in order to perform work for the network. They are supply-side participants who hold GRT to provide indexing and query processing services.

In the The Graph protocol, Indexers provide data query services on the blockchain, and data consumers pay query fees to access this information. There is a query marketplace where Indexers set the price of these queries based on the cost to index the subgraph, demand, curation signal, and the market rate for blockchain queries.