Tron
Public blockchain founded by Justin Sun in 2017 and governed by TRON DAO. It carries more than $94 billion of Tether's USDT stablecoin and its native token is TRX.
Industry: Public blockchain network | Founded: 2017
About Tron
TRON is a public blockchain network for smart contracts, decentralised applications and digital tokens; its native token is TRX. It is coordinated by TRON DAO, which describes the network as a fully inclusive DAO that its community operates and governs under an open-source protocol. TRON DAO calls it a settlement network for stablecoins, payments and real-world assets. It is a decentralised network rather than a conventional company.
The project was founded by Justin Sun; TRON DAO gives September 2017 as its founding date. According to Wikipedia, the TRON Foundation was set up in Singapore in July 2017 and raised about $70 million in a TRX token sale that year. The mainnet launched in May 2018, and Wikipedia records that the foundation bought BitTorrent in July 2018. Sun stepped down as chief executive of the foundation in December 2021, when it became a DAO, and TRON DAO's September 2026 release still quotes him as founder.
TRON DAO runs the TRON Builders League, an incubator offering funding and mentorship, and TRON Academy, which supports universities. In June 2025 Nasdaq-listed SRM Entertainment agreed to buy TRX tokens with a $100 million equity investment, rename itself Tron Inc and take Sun as an adviser, Reuters reported. CoinDesk Research listed integrations in early 2026 including MetaMask, the Telegram Crypto Wallet and the Mastercard Crypto Partner Program. Canary Capital launched a Staked TRX ETF in September 2026, TRON DAO said.
CoinDesk Research, in a report commissioned by Tron, put USDT on TRON above $85 billion in March 2026, about 46 percent of all USDT, with 3.2 million average daily active users and $82.2 million of protocol fees in the first quarter. TRON DAO said in September 2026 that circulating USDT exceeded $94 billion, cumulative settled volume passed $30 trillion, and the network had more than 405 million user accounts.
The most recent protocol upgrade named by CoinDesk Research, GreatVoyage-v4.8.1, was finalised on 9 March 2026. TRON DAO's site in October 2026 cited $2.21 trillion in stablecoin settlement in its State of TRON Q3 2026 report and said Polygon's Open Money Stack was expanding to TRON.