TRON: Slow and Steady Wins The Race
Find out more about TRON and how it outperformed the market during this cycle.
This post was brought to you by the Aptos Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the Aptos protocol and developer ecosystem. Aptos is the secure, scalable, and feature-rich L1 blockchain of choice for both developers and users—delivering the best performance, the highest throughput, and lowest latency.
This cycle we have seen most established Layer 1 (L1) chains stumble while new L1 chains failed to continue the hype after mainnet and fade into obscurity. However, one chain has been silently defying market trends by having a steady upclimb through the downturn.
I am talking about TRON (TRX), the brainchild of controversial crypto mogul Justin Sun. It has not just survived the recent market turbulence – it's thrived. Since the start of the crypto downturn this year in April, the crypto market has plummeted with big names like POL and AVAX down over 40%, while TRON has actually climbed 30% back to its 2021 all-time-high, outperforming all major L1s from April to now. This leaves both supporters and critics wondering: what fueled TRON's resilience this cycle?
TRON was founded in 2017 by a Singapore non-profit called TRON Foundation and its governance and gas token is TRONix (TRX). The token was launched through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) that took place from August 31 to September 2, 2017. The ICO was a mega success, raising 15,200 BTC, roughly $70 million at the time, or around $1 billion at today’s price if they kept the BTC. TRX is currently showing an ROI of 83x against the US dollar, making it top 15 in terms of ICO ROI.
This funding allowed TRON network into the successful ecosystem today. Its goal was to decentralize the web and revolutionize the entertainment industry by creating a global, free content entertainment system that aims to decentralize content creation and distribution.
As I am sure most of us do not think of decentralized entertainment when thinking of TRON, I can confidently say that its success in that domain has been limited. Instead, TRON has found unexpected success in other areas. The platform's true strengths have emerged in the realms of decentralized finance (DeFi) and, most notably, in facilitating stablecoin transfers. Today, TRON stands as a formidable player in DeFi, challenging even Ethereum in terms of transaction volume and network revenue.
As TRON has solidified its position as a top performer in the cryptocurrency market, particularly among Layer 1 platforms, let’s explore some of its key stats:
Market Capitalization: TRON’s market cap exceeds $10 billion, ranking in the top 15 cryptocurrencies, representing a significant increase from its position in early 2023.
Price Performance: While many cryptocurrencies have struggled to regain their all-time highs, TRX has maintained a price level near its historical peak, showing remarkable stability and growth in a volatile market.
Active wallets: The TRON network has over 2.5 million active users, while Ethereum has around 400 thousand active users, a testament to TRON’s widespread adoption.
Trading Volume: Daily trading volume for TRX consistently exceeds $300 million, making it a top 20 cryptocurrency by volume, indicating high liquidity and active market participation.
Network Activity: TRON blockchain processes over 3 million transactions daily, surpassing many of its Layer 1 competitors in terms of network usage, including Ethereum which only has around 1 million transactions daily.
Source: TRONscan
Total Value Locked (TVL): TRON has seen substantial growth in DeFi, with TVL in TRON-based protocols exceeding $7 billion, placing it as the second largest chain by TVL, behind just Ethereum.
Source: DefiLlama
USDT Dominance: TRON has become the preferred network for USDT transactions, handling over 70% of all Tether transfers, surpassing Ethereum in this regard.
Source: Dune
Revenue: In August, TRON has already generated approximately $435 million in fees, outpacing Ethereum's $364 million. This represents a substantial 50% lead over Ethereum in monthly protocol revenue. However in terms of year-to-date Ethereum is still leading at $1.55 billion in fees while TRON is catching up at $1.34 billion. If TRON maintains its pace, it will be the first time that Ethereum is dethroned in terms of blockchain revenue.
Source: Cryptorank
As TRON has performed admirably this year, it’s time to understand why. In this article, I will delve deep into the TRON ecosystem, exploring its technology, key partnerships, and the factors driving its impressive market performance. Read on to discover why TRON is not just surviving but thriving in the competitive world of cryptocurrencies.