The developers of the network Tron Ecosystem planned to create an analogue of a decentralized social network, where entertainment content would be available to anyone. How close are the creators of the platform to the implementation of their plans
The Tron blockchain is one of the most controversial cryptocurrency projects. On the one hand, it was called the “Ethereum killer”, and on the other hand, it was considered another short-lived startup. This year, the project turned 5 years old, and in some respects it really surpassed the second cryptocurrency in terms of capitalization.
Decentralized Social Network
The TRON blockchain is a decentralized entertainment content ecosystem launched in 2017 by Chinese entrepreneur Justin Sun. According to his plan, developers can create their entertainment applications (dApps) on the platform and directly offer them to users, bypassing intermediaries.
Initially, TRON was launched on the Ethereum blockchain, but in the summer of 2018, the cryptocurrency was transferred to its own blockchain. In July 2018, the BitTorrent project, a file sharing protocol with around 100 million monthly active users, was also integrated into the Tron ecosystem.
The TRON network completed its decentralization in December 2021 and is a fully community-driven DAO. The blockchain is being developed by the Singaporean non-profit organization Tron Foundation, which directs all proceeds to the further development of the project.
When created, the project was positioned as a new kind of social network that does not depend on centralized management: anyone can create content and share it with the community. The project also includes DappRadar, a platform for searching and exploring decentralized applications, and a cryptocurrency wallet.
Tron Today
The architecture of the Tron blockchain consists of three layers: storage, management, and applications. The storage layer is used to store information about blocks, the control layer (core) contains modules for smart contracts, account management and consensus.
The third level provides developers with the ability to create DApps in various programming languages such as Java, Scala, C++, and Python. The technical features of the Tron blockchain allow the use of any high-level language for smart contracts, which makes this network one of the leading platforms for building applications.
This blockchain has a high degree of scalability, which opens up a lot of opportunities for developers to deploy their applications while being used by millions of people at the same time. Tron has better throughput than the Ethereum or Bitcoin networks and a reward distribution mechanism that makes the consensus more decentralized and increases the security of the network.
The TRON blockchain also has a Sun Network sidechain project. Its goal is to help applications run with less power, faster speeds, and enhanced security. At the same time, the sidechain provides unlimited storage options for the main TRON network. Sun Network is fully compatible with the core protocol and uses all of its key features.
TRC-20 Tokens
The Tron blockchain uses the TRC20 token standard, which is supported by major cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets. Another standard – TRC721 – is used when interacting with NFT.
According to TRONSCAN, the total amount of transfers in the TRON network has exceeded $5 trillion, and the number of accounts in the network has reached 105 million. The amount of funds blocked in the protocol (TVL) is about $11.3 billion. Based on the Tron blockchain (according to the TRC-20 standard) many cryptocurrencies work. The most famous tokens that support the TRC-20 standard are:
TRONIX (TRX) is the network’s native token, the main unit of account in the TRON blockchain. As of August 2, 2022, the token is ranked 17th in the list of leading cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of $6.3 billion, according to Coingecko.
USDT (Tether), the largest by capitalization ($65 billion) stablecoin pegged to the US dollar and issued by Tether, also operates on the TRON network. According to the developers, the turnover of USDT on the Tron blockchain overtook the turnover of the same coin on the Ethereum network back in 2021.
The key advantage of the Tron blockchain is the fee. In the form of TRC-20, the transfer of USDT tokens costs about $1. And in the form of ERC-20, the fee can be at least $2, and there is no upper limit: at the time of network congestion, the amount of commissions reached tens and hundreds of dollars.
USD Coin (USDC) is another stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. USDC is compatible with multiple blockchains, including the TRON network. The token was launched in June 2021 and has shown significant proliferation, with more than $200 million worth of transactions being made on the network in a few months.
BTT (BitTorrent) is a TRC-20 utility token that supports dApps that include BitTorrent Speed, BitTorrent File System, and more. For BTT tokens, you can increase the download speed of files received by torrent clients.
APENFT (NFT) is the official management token of the APENFT marketplace, which is part of the Tron ecosystem and operates on the basis of the BitTorrent network. This coin serves as proof of entitlement to non-fungible tokens. Cryptocurrency holders can vote, share profits, and participate in token airdrops.
