Stop being fooled by all kinds of flashy concepts. Many so-called innovative tokens are essentially "air." The projects that truly last are often those you don't pay much attention to but are silently relied upon by the entire ecosystem.

In the gold rush of blockchain these years, everyone wants to find the next explosive application. But the lesson from history is clear—when the gold rush fades, the most stable earners are never the miners, but those selling shovels, supply chain components, and building infrastructure.

The Graph (GRT) falls into this category. It is the most critical "data shovel" in Web3.

**What exactly is the difference between GRT and LINK**

Many like to compare GRT with Chainlink (LINK), the leading oracle, but in fact, they do completely different things. Although both are important, their roles differ:

LINK is like a "water delivery worker"—it needs to reliably bring real-world data (such as weather, prices, stock quotes) onto the chain. It solves the problem of "where does the data come from."

GRT is like a "data librarian"—the blockchain is already filled with transaction records, contract states, and various on-chain information, but this data is messy. GRT's job is to index and categorize it clearly so you can find what you want in seconds. It solves the problem of "how to find data quickly."

From another perspective: without LINK, on-chain applications are like blind people; without GRT, on-chain applications are like blind people running naked in a pile of data garbage. Both are indispensable, but GRT supports a more fundamental need—the data retrieval capability of the entire ecosystem.

**Web3's "Google"**

Imagine what the internet would be like without Google—massive amounts of information piled up, but you can't find anything. GRT is the Google of the blockchain world.

What is the latest interest rate in DeFi protocols? How much has the floor price of a certain NFT series dropped? Behind any application, smooth data queries and analysis are supported by the GRT network.

Why is GRT strong:

First, it has strong survivability. It’s not betting on a single application going viral, but on the entire Web3 ecosystem growing. As long as there are transactions and activities on the chain, data needs to be queried, and this demand will always exist.

Second, its profit model is transparent. Network query volume is its revenue source—more queries mean more stable income. Most importantly, this data is real: GRT’s query volume has increased by over 200% annually. This is not just a concept; it reflects the real growth of the ecosystem.

While the entire Web3 ecosystem is still chasing various new tokens and applications, GRT is doing the most boring but most essential work—silently supporting the data flow of every chain. Projects like this are often the ones that can truly last until the end.