Know Your Crypto — TRON (TRX) Edition
Ever since TRON (TRX) debuted in the crypto world in 2017, the token has gained one of the most vocal followings. Keep reading to know everything about it.
TRON is a decentralized virtual machine built to help usher in the decentralized web. Similarly to Ethereum, TRON enables DApp developers to utilize complex protocols via smart contracts that live on its native blockchain. Today the platform is best known for its transaction speeds and its lively CEO. Specifically, the platform is capable of 2000 transactions per second. This performance puts TRX on par with major payment processors such as PayPal. Best of all, TRON has zero transaction fees. You can send a million dollars in TRX anywhere in the world without a penny.
To grasp the monumental task TRON’s developers seek to take on, it’s crucial to understand a little about the decentralized internet. The decentralized internet differs from the legacy internet you are used to in some key ways. Primarily, there are no hosting companies. Instead, the entire internet is run by personal users. Until recently, the concept of a decentralized web seemed impossible. The computing power of the world was not up to par yet. However, the transparent nature of blockchain networks makes them ideal for just such a task in modern times.
Here’s How TRON Came Into Existence
The history of TRON begins in early 2017. At that time, the firm’s CEO Justin Sun officially launched the Singapore-based non-profit organization known today as the TRON Foundation. The mission of this organization was to build the infrastructure for a decentralized internet and provide a democratic system to manage the network. Notably, Sun isn’t a stranger to the FinTech sector. For one, he is a protégé of Jack Ma. Amazingly, he graduated from Ma’s Hupan University and within months made his way onto Forbes “China 30 under 30” and “Asia 30 under 30” lists.
For example, Sun was Ripple’s chief representative in the greater China area. This position put him in contact with the network of people he would one day need to make the TRON concept a reality. He also founded a hugely popular live-streaming application called Peiwo. Currently, the app has over 10 million users throughout China. Even more impressive is the fact that Sun integrated TRON into Peiwo only months after the acquisition. This integration helped lift TRON’s position in the region. Additionally, the strategy expanded TRON’s active community base significantly.
The ICO Of TRON Was Immensely Successful
The 2017 TRON Foundation ICO raised $70 million to further the development of the TRON ecosystem. During the event, investors received TRX tokens in exchange for their BTC or ETH. At the time of the sale, TRX tokens had a market value of just $0.0019. TRX tokens are the utility tokens issued by the TRON Foundation as a medium currency for all TRC-based tokens. These tokens reside on the mainnet and they facilitate transactions across the blockchain. This success gave the platform’s developers the resources, experience, and motivation to launch their blockchain.
Delegated Proof Of Stake (DPoS) vs Proof Of Stake (PoS)
The TRON network relies on a Delegated-Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism to secure the blockchain. A DPoS is similar to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism in that it allows users to earn passive income whenever they stake their holdings in a network wallet. Staking serves a couple of crucial purposes. For one, it allows users to earn passive income. Mainly, it keeps the network safe. In the TRX ecosystem, users stake their TRX at a 1:1 ratio. The more they stake into the net, the more TRON Power they earn. TRON Power is vital within the TRON network.
What You Need To Know About The TRON Foundation
The TRON Foundation is a non-profit organization that focuses on expanding the use case scenarios for TRX and the TRON protocol. Today, TRX operates on one of the largest decentralized networks in the world. Additionally, the entire TRON protocol is open-source. Open-source platforms are more secure because they allow the community to test the codes wear-with-all. Like any major crypto project, TRON has had fair share of controversies. One major area of concern that has plagued the project is that much of its protocols appear to come from other platforms.
For example, TRON utilizes multiple protocols from IPFS and Filecoin (Bitswap, PoRep, PoSt,) but it fails to list them as references in its whitepaper. This lack of reference led some in the community to speak out against the project. In response to the allegations of forgery, Justin Sun stated that the confusion arose from bad translations. He explained that the whitepaper translators left out important details that were found in the original Chinese version of the document. Despite Justin’s claim, others in the community pointed to issues in the Chinese version as well.
The Future Ahead With TRON
TRON continues to find its way into the crypto headlines on a regular basis. From its CEO eating lunch with Warren Buffet to the launch of a new DeFi platform, this project continues to capture the imagination and hearts of crypto users around the world. For now, it’s exciting to see what this creative team of developers has up their sleeve next.
Non-Financial Advice: The data, resources, and statistics in this article have been consolidated from multiple sources and neither the author nor the site is responsible for any financial profit/loss incurred from the data and opinions present in this article. Readers understand that all risks associated with cryptocurrency are taken on by themselves.
