What Is Tron: Overview
Tron is a blockchain-based decentralized digital platform with its own cryptocurrency, called Tronix or TRX. Founded in 2017 by a Singapore non-profit organization, the Tron Foundation, Tron aims to host a global entertainment system for the cost-effective sharing of digital content.
Initially marketed primarily in Asia, Tron had now gone global. The platform had more than 50 million accounts as of August 2021.
Founded by Justin Sun, now its CEO, Tron has offices in Singapore and San Francisco. Born in 1990, Sun also is the CEO of BitTorrent, the file-sharing program. He is said to be a protege of Chinese tycoon Jack Ma.
- Tron is a blockchain-based digital platform that primarily hosts entertainment applications.
- It has its own in-house cryptocurrency, called Tronix or TRX.
- TRX ranks 31st among cryptocurrencies in market capitalization.
Understanding Tron
Tron uses the features of the blockchain and peer-to-peer (P2P) network technology to eliminate the middleman and allow content creators to sell their work directly to consumers. Software developers use the Solidity programming language to create apps that are hosted on the Tron platform.
The currency used on the network is Tronix, or TRX. Users of the network use TRX to directly pay the content creators to access their applications. Content creators do not pay a transaction fee to Tron. (TRX transactions also are free on the platform.)
Users can store their crypto-assets in a desktop, mobile, or hardware wallet.
Tron and the Ethereum Blockchain
The Tron network structure has been compared to that of the Ethereum platform, and it uses some of the same basic building blocks, such as decentralized applications (dApps), smart contracts, and tokens. In fact, it has been criticized for perhaps “going too far” by borrowing rather than building the basics of its platform.
There are signs that Tronix and Ethereum are becoming competitors for the business of cryptocurrency traders. The supply of USD Coin, a cryptocurrency tied to the U.S. Dollar, circulating on Tron surpassed $108 million less than a month after support for it launched.
That “could be another sign that crypto traders are increasingly turning to blockchains that provide cheaper transaction fees with faster speed than what’s found on Ethereum,” Coindesk reported in July 2021.
As of Aug. 5, 2021, TRX ranked 31st among cryptocurrencies in market capitalization, according to CoinRanking.com. Its price was $0.0705, giving it a market capitalization of $4.66 billion. Its all-time high on that date was $0.2180.
The Potential of Tron
Tron was created as a direct challenge to the media industry, including the web-based giants like Amazon and Netflix. Its slogan is “Decentralize the Web” and its aim is to eject the corporate middleman from the process of consuming media.
Beyond the current cryptocurrency boom, surely its future success depends at least in part on the quality of the programming it brings to its users.
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