Although there are quite a few decentralized smart contract platforms in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, Tron sets itself apart by focusing on the relationship between content producer and consumer.
Tron hopes that its decentralized platform will be used to create a new way for people to produce and monetize content in the 21st century.
In this article:What is the Tron Blockchain?
Founded in 2017, Tron is a decentralized smart contract platform that wants to remove the middleman that separates content creators from consumers. In other words, Tron wants to create a platform that lets an artist or producer connect directly with the consumer, without having to go through a centralized organization like Netflix or Spotify.
Content producers can host their work on Tron. Once something is on the blockchain, consumers can engage with it directly. Most importantly, consumers can make payments directly to the content producer, who can keep the profits.
What’s interesting about Tron is that the blockchain can support so many different types of content producers.
- Musicians
- Painters
- Digital artists
- Filmmakers
- Authors
- Journalists
The list goes on. If a person is producing content, they can likely connect directly to their audience using Tron. Furthermore, a content producer can market to anyone in the world.
For example, not all content platforms are available in every country. Even YouTube is (officially) blocked in China. These types of geographic restrictions can make it difficult to reach a broad audience.
With Tron there are no international restrictions or borders. Content stored on the Tron blockchain can be accessed from anywhere and payments can be made in seconds, regardless of jurisdiction.
On top of supporting content creators, Tron also functions as a standard smart contract platform. Developers can create Dapps on Tron, just like they do on Ethereum or Tezos. A full list of the Dapps currently running on Tron can be found here.
Caption: The top 10 most popular Dapps (ranked by user count) on Tron
System Architecture
Since content storage is an important part of the business model, Tron uses a three-tiered system to ensure optimal performance.
- Core Layer - The core layer can compute tasks that are written in either Java or Solidity. After the computation is complete, instructions are sent to the Tron Virtual Machine for execution
- Application Layer - This is where developers can create applications like a Tron wallet
- Storage Layer - The storage layer holds data from content producers, as well as the state of the blockchain, I.e. who owns what assets
For security Tron uses a Delegated Proof of Stake (DPOS) consensus mechanism. At any given time, there are 27 super representatives who validate transactions.
The super representatives change every 6 hours, ensuring that no single representative gains too much control over the network. Regular Tron users can stake their TRX with a super representative in order to earn a reward. According to StakingRewards.com, the annual ROI for staking Tron is currently 3.49%.
A new block is produced every 3 seconds on the Tron network. The block reward is 32 TRX which means that there are approximately 330,000,000 new TRX created every year.
The Advantages of Tron
There are a couple of features which set Tron apart from other smart contract platforms like Ethereum.
The most obvious advantage is that Tron is significantly more scalable than Ethereum. While Ethereum can only clear about 15 to 20 transactions per second (TPS), with its DPOS consensus mechanism, Tron can clear up to 2,000 TPS.
Tron is also unique in that it doesn’t have transaction fees. Instead of a fee market, the Tron Foundation maintains computing resources that are used to process transactions and the execution of smart contracts. More information about how this feeless system works is available here.
One of the advantages that Tron has over a traditional content platform is that Tron is open source. Platforms like Netflix and Facebook have proprietary algorithms and source code that is not available to the public.
Because it’s open source, anyone can view the Tron source code and suggest contributions. An open source protocol is also more transparent, so that users can see how their data is being used.
Tron Coin: TRX
Tron was created by Justin Sun, who continues on as the project’s CEO to this day. The Tron blockchain is supported by the Tron Foundation, which maintains and upgrades the Tron architecture. More information about Tron’s roadmap is available from Messari.
Like most cryptocurrencies created in 2017, Tron was launched with an ICO. The ICO raised $70 million, with each TRX token being sold at $0.0019. Initially, Tron started out as an ERC20 token. However, in 2018 Tron migrated off Ethereum and became its own blockchain.
Tron TRX Future
One of the most compelling reasons that Tron could succeed in the long run is that it’s not trying to compete directly with Ethereum. Ethereum is famous for DeFi but it’s not known for trying to connect content creators with consumers.
If Tron’s plan to attract content creators is successful, the chain could prove popular within that niche.
Want to learn more about Tron TRX? Then check out the Tron TRX wallet page to learn more about the current Tron coin price & market news! Sync your Exodus Desktop Wallet with your mobile by downloading Exodus Tron Wallet for Android or Exodus Tron Wallet for iOS.
