What is Tron?

Launched at the height of 2017’s crypto mania, Tron has since galvanized a global group of investors and developers around a vision for how cryptocurrencies could reshape the internet. 

• Check the Tron price page for more details on the current TRX value, trends, and price history.

But if the goal of using blockchains to create a distributed web was common among projects launching at the time, Tron distinguished its offering with communications that resonated, even as criticisms about its technology persisted. 

For instance, Tron was rare among cryptocurrencies launching in 2017 in that it did not seek to advertise any advances in cryptography or network design. 

Rather, the basic building blocks of Tron – decentralized applications, smart contracts, tokens delegated proof of stake consensus – were pioneered by other projects prior to its launch. Tron even went so far as to make components of its technology compatible with Ethereum (ETH) (which sparked accusations it went too far in borrowing its ideas).

Tron would further differentiate with an Asia-focused go-to-market strategy that heavily relied on publicizing its creator justiu sum and translating its technical documents into a wider variety of languages than generally targeted by cryptocurrency projects. 

Tron went on to gain greater mainstream attention in 2018 when the non-profit spearheading its development, the Tron Foundation, acquired peer-to-peer networking pioneer BitTorrent. 

This acquisition preceded the launch of a BitTorrent token on the Tron blockchain in 2019, a move that gave Tron the ability to market a new cryptocurrency to millions of existing users.