TRON

Network resources and fees: TRX is used to obtain network resources, Bandwidth (transaction bytes) and Energy (smart-contract compute). Users stake TRX to receive these resources; if an account lacks enough, TRX is burned at protocol-defined rates to cover execution. Governance and validator voting: Staking TRX grants TRON Power (TP), which is used to vote for Super Representatives (validators). Voters may receive rewards distributed in TRX under network rules and SR policies. See the governance section for mechanics. Payments and value transfer: TRX functions as the native medium for peer-to-peer transfers and can be used for payments within and outside the TRON ecosystem, including merchant and wallet integrations highlighted by the project. Smart-contract interaction and dApp usage: All contract deployment and invocation on TRON consumes Energy; users typically stake TRX to obtain Energy or let TRX be burned if limits are exceeded. Developers can set per-transaction fee limits (feeLimit) for cost control.

DeFi collateral and market utility: Official docs note TRX is issued as network rewards and is commonly used as collateral in lending markets and as a unit of account in NFT marketplaces on TRON. Specific DeFi protocols are covered in their own sections. Account activation and resource delegation: Creating accounts via CreateAccount requires a protocol-defined fee; activation by transfer consumes Bandwidth and may burn TRX if resources are insufficient. Users can also delegate staked resources (Energy/Bandwidth) to other accounts.

Token issuance and ecosystem operations: Certain on-chain operations require TRX payments - for example, issuing a TRC-10 token carries a one-time TRX cost set by network rules. For issuance standards, see ‘Is TRON (TRX) a coin or a token?

TRX is a coin, the native cryptocurrency of the TRON blockchain. It is the base unit of account on TRON (1 TRX = 1,000,000 sun, where “sun” is the smallest indivisible unit of TRX) and exists at the protocol level rather than as a contract-issued asset.

Before TRON launched its own mainnet, TRX was temporarily issued as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum. That ERC-20 representation was swapped to native TRX during the mainnet migration in June 2018; since then, TRX has been a native coin on the TRON network. On TRON, tokens are assets created on top of the network by users or applications, using standards such as TRC-10 (chain-level issuance) or TRC-20 (smart-contract standard on the TVM). These are not the same as TRX and are distinguishable by their contract or issuance details.

Yes. TRON executes smart contracts on the TRON Virtual Machine (TVM), which is designed to be broadly compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) so existing Solidity contracts and tooling can be used. Porting Solidity contracts: Most Ethereum contracts can be redeployed to TRON after recompiling with TRON’s solc and addressing TVM/EVM nuances documented by TRON. This enables straightforward migrations while keeping familiar languages and workflows (e.g., Remix). Tooling and RPC: TRON supports its own HTTP/gRPC APIs and also exposes Ethereum-compatible JSON-RPC 2.0 endpoints, which means many front ends and libraries built for EVM chains (e.g., web3/ethers) can integrate with minimal changes. Fees and execution model: Instead of Ethereum’s gas, TRON uses Bandwidth (tx bytes) and Energy (contract compute). Developers must account for Energy/Bandwidth when deploying and calling contracts; the energyPrice is a network parameter set by governance. Behavioural differences to check: There are EVM divergences developers should review during audits and migrations, including:

• GASPRICE, DIFFICULTY and GASLIMIT may return zero; BASEFEE semantics differ because TRON uses Energy/Bandwidth rather than gas.
• Opcode pricing differs in places and the TVM exposes TRON-specific opcodes; review cost tables and TVM-only opcodes before deployment.
• CREATE2 address derivation uses a different prefix; precompile mappings differ (e.g., RIPEMD160), so libraries that rely on precompile addresses should be checked.

Unit precision differs: Ethereum uses wei (1e18) while TRON uses sun (1e6) for TRX; review fixed-point maths and scaling factors.

Related: BTTC (BitTorrent Chain): Beyond mainnet TRON, BTTC provides an EVM-compatible chain connected to TRON, Ethereum and BNB Chain, letting developers deploy familiar EVM contracts and bridge assets across these networks.

Yes. TRON uses Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS): TRX holders elect a small set of validators called Super Representatives (SRs) to produce blocks and keep the network running. Voting and TRON Power: To vote, users stake TRX to obtain TRON Power (TP). Each staked TRX grants one TP, which can be assigned to SR candidates. Votes are tallied on-chain; unstaking removes the associated TP and invalidates prior votes. Wallets and explorers surface this through Stake 2.0 flows. >Under Stake 2.0, unstaking uses a 14-day unlock period.

Election cycle and validator sets: Any account may register as an SR candidate. The top 27 by votes become SRs (block producers). Ranks 28–127 are SR Partners (they receive voting rewards but do not produce blocks). Votes are recounted every 6 hours, so the active SR/Partner sets can change regularly. Registration requires burning 9,999 TRX to limit spam. Block production and timing: SRs take turns producing blocks in fixed “slots”. TRON targets an average ~3-second block interval; if an SR misses a slot, it is skipped and the next SR proceeds. Rewards and governance parameters: Block production and voter reward amounts are network parameters set by on-chain governance. The committee of 27 SRs can propose and pass changes (e.g., reward schedules, fee parameters). This design allows the network to adjust incentives without a hard fork. For current values, see the governance section.

TRON DAO is the community-governed umbrella for the TRON network introduced when TRON transitioned to a DAO model in December 2021. It provides the public-facing framework for community participation around the protocol and its ecosystem.

Governance layers:

1. Voter layer (staking & elections): TRX holders stake to obtain TRON Power (TP) and use it to vote for validator candidates. The top 27 become Super Representatives (SRs) and produce blocks; ranks 28–127 are SR Partners. Votes are recounted on a rolling cycle (every 6 hours), so the active set can change frequently. See the DPoS section for economics and rewards.
2. On-chain parameter governance (SR committee): The current 27 SRs form a committee that can change network parameters (for example, Energy price, block rewards, account and token-issuance fees). Any SR, SR Partner or SR Candidate may create a proposal; only YES votes are counted; proposals pass with at least 18 approvals, remain valid for 3 days, and take effect in the next maintenance period (maintenance interval is 6 hours in the docs).
3. Protocol change process (TIPs): Broader protocol changes are specified through TRON Improvement Proposals (TIPs) - design documents that describe rationale and technical specs. TIPs are discussed publicly; core changes are considered for inclusion in future releases/hard forks through the project’s engineering process. Community venues: TRON DAO maintains public resources for governance information and discussion, including a governance overview page and a community forum. Note on TRON DAO vs TRON DAO Reserve (TDR): The TRON DAO Reserve is a separate entity focused on reserve management for USDD; it is not the validator committee described above. For USDD/TDR details, see the USDD section.

Validators on TRON are called Super Representatives (SRs). Any account can register as an SR candidate by paying an on-chain application fee (9,999 TRX) and must run a TRON node to produce blocks if elected. The top 27 candidates by votes become SRs and rotate block production; candidates ranked 28–127 are SR Partners and do not produce blocks.

How the election works: TRX holders stake TRX to obtain TRON Power (TP) and use TP to vote for SR candidates. Votes are recounted on-chain every 6 hours, so the active SR/SR-Partner sets can change at that cadence. Unstaking removes the corresponding TP and invalidates previous votes; only an account’s latest vote before each tally is counted.

Rewards and voter payouts: SRs receive block production rewards when they produce blocks; SRs and SR Partners also receive voting rewards proportional to votes. Both SRs and SR Partners distribute rewards to their voters according to a configurable brokerage (commission) ratio; the default brokerage is 20% but SRs can modify it on-chain. Voters earn the remainder based on their voting weight. Governance role of SRs: The current 27 SRs form the committee that can modify network parameters via proposals (for example, Energy price, block rewards). Proposals are valid for 3 days; only SRs vote on them, and current docs state a proposal passes with ≥18 SR approvals, taking effect at the next maintenance period. For proposal mechanics and broader governance, see the TRON DAO section.

TRON acquired BitTorrent Inc. in July 2018, bringing the BitTorrent products (BitTorrent and µTorrent) under the TRON umbrella. BTT is BitTorrent’s utility token issued on TRON as a TRC-20 asset. It is used across BitTorrent-related applications such as BitTorrent Speed and the BitTorrent File System (BTFS). BitTorrent executed a redenomination that replaced the original TRC-10 BTT with a new TRC-20 BTT at 1:1,000; the legacy token was renamed BTTOLD. Some venues label the new token differently (e.g., “BTTC” on certain exchanges). BTTC is an EVM-compatible, proof-of-stake cross-chain network that connects TRON, Ethereum and BNB Chain. BTT is the native gas and staking token on BTTC (analogous to ETH on Ethereum). This means contract calls and transfers on BTTC pay fees in BTT, not TRX. BTT is issued on TRON and can be bridged to BTTC and other chains for use there; the official materials note BTT’s cross-chain availability via BTTC. TRX vs BTT: distinct roles:

1. TRX is the native coin of the TRON mainnet, used for network resources (Bandwidth/Energy), transfers and governance.
2. BTT powers BitTorrent applications (e.g., Speed, BTFS) and serves as gas/staking on BTTC.

These are separate assets with different functions across the combined TRON–BitTorrent stack.

USDD is a TRC-20 stablecoin native to the TRON network. It is minted and redeemed by on-chain vault contracts against crypto collateral, with the TRON DAO Reserve (TDR) acting as reserve manager/backstop and publishing the token and reserve contract addresses. The current (“new”) version is a decentralised, crypto-collateralised design intended to maintain a 1:1 value to USD through over-collateralisation and on-chain mechanisms. Related components such as the Peg Stability Module (PSM) are deployed on TRON and Ethereum, with contract addresses published for verification.

How issuance works (vaults): Users mint USDD by locking approved collateral in protocol vaults. Supported collateral types include assets such as TRX and USDT. Each collateral type has a minimum collateral ratio set for its risk profile; positions that fall below the threshold become eligible for liquidation. Collateral and system metrics are verifiable on-chain via the published contract addresses.

USDD relies on two main stabilisers:

• Over-collateralisation + liquidation/auction: under-collateralised vaults are liquidated and collateral is auctioned to cover outstanding debt, with keepers incentivised to participate.
• Peg Stability Module (PSM): enables fixed-rate 1:1 swaps between USDD and other stablecoins (e.g., USDT/USDC) with no slippage beyond network gas, minting USDD on inbound swaps and burning it on redemptions. Contract addresses for PSM components are published for TRON and Ethereum.

Role of the TRON DAO Reserve (TDR): TDR is described as the reserve manager/backstop for USDD. Official communications state that TDR oversees reserve assets and permissions and historically targeted an over-collateralisation buffer (e.g., 130%+) using crypto assets such as BTC, TRX and stablecoins; real-time collateral data is published by the project. Day-to-day vault minting in the “new” model is user-driven; TDR’s remit focuses on reserve management and market stability tools.

USDD vs USDDOLD: The documentation distinguishes the current USDD from USDDOLD, an earlier version minted by whitelisted TDR institutions via a TRX burn/mint mechanism and backed by TDR-held collateral. USDDOLD continues to exist as a separate asset in the docs; the current USDD uses the vault/PSM architecture outlined above.

Where USDD fits in TRON: Within the TRON ecosystem, USDD functions as a dollar-referenced medium in dApps and DeFi, offering a TRC-20 stable unit for transfers, pricing and collateral. Its peg tools (vaults, liquidations and PSM) are native to the protocol, while reserve management is handled by TDR.

TRON was created by Justin Sun in 2017. The TRON Foundation, established that year, coordinated early development and stewardship of the network and its native coin, TRX.

TRX was first issued in 2017 as an ERC-20 token and later migrated to the native TRON chain during the project’s mainnet launch window in June 2018 (“Independence Day” events marked the network’s transition). Post-migration, TRX has functioned as the protocol’s native coin.

In December 2021, governance and branding moved from the TRON Foundation to TRON DAO, a community-governed structure. Official communications describe this as the project’s “full decentralisation”, with Justin Sun stepping away from the dissolved foundation’s CEO role. For governance mechanics, see the DAO section.