After 14 years, Sun Ge is here again
Author: Bob
Recently, stablecoins have become a hot topic in global finance and technology. Vernacular Blockchain had the honor to interview Justin Sun, the founder of TRON. He recently appeared on the cover of the 27th issue of (Asia Weekly) in 2025. This is the second time that Justin Sun has appeared on the cover of this internationally authoritative Chinese weekly in 14 years. This time, Justin Sun once again became the cover character as a pioneer in the blockchain industry. As he said, this is not only a recognition of his personal past efforts, but also a strong testimony to TRON's continuous innovation in the blockchain field and its global influence.
In the interview, Justin Sun reviewed his transformation from a post-90s elite at Peking University to a leader in the crypto industry, emphasizing his firm belief in blockchain technology and TRON's strategic layout to build a global public chain ecosystem. He admitted that marketing is only a means, and products are the core. TRON's success is due to its high throughput, low-cost DPoS consensus mechanism and global developer ecosystem. Looking to the future, he believes that stablecoins will become a key bridge connecting traditional finance and the crypto world, and TRON will continue to promote the large-scale popularization and application of Web3 with its leading advantage in the stablecoin settlement layer.
Regarding the industry outlook, Justin Sun pointed out that a clear regulatory framework will accelerate the mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies and create more opportunities for ordinary people to participate in DeFi, NFT and emerging public chain ecosystems. He suggested that young practitioners consolidate their technical foundations, keep an open mind, and find a balance between compliance and innovation. Both his personal growth trajectory and the development path of TRON have confirmed his concept of "edge innovation changing the world" - crypto technology is evolving from a geek toy to a core force in reshaping the global financial infrastructure.
The following is the full interview:
01
Industry Pioneer: Leading TRON and Cryptocurrency to Go Viral
Vernacular Blockchain: Thank you Justin Sun for accepting the interview with Vernacular Big Talk, and congratulations on being on the cover of (Asia Weekly) again. The first question is, we really want to know what it means and how you feel to be on the cover of this important publication again for you personally and TRON?
Justin Sun: Thank you very much for this interview with Vernacular Blockchain. I also thank Asia Weekly for letting me be the cover character again after 14 years. I think this is not only a recognition of my past efforts, but also a testimony to TRON's continuous innovation in the blockchain field and its global influence. Of course, for me personally, the meaning is definitely different. In 2011, I became the cover character as a representative of the post-90s generation in China, and this time I am an entrepreneur in the blockchain industry. But I think the connection is also obvious, that is, Chinese people and Chinese post-90s generation have already had a huge influence in the world, and at the same time, the blockchain industry has also been recognized and developed prosperously. In addition, it also shows that the efforts of me, TRON and industry practitioners have been seen, recognized and praised. TRON is now one of the world's leading public chains, carrying the trust of hundreds of millions of users and the dreams of countless developers. This honor will inspire us to continue to optimize technology, expand application scenarios, and contribute more to the future of Web3.
02
The essence of marketing is product
Plain Language Blockchain: From winning Buffett’s lunch, purchasing artworks at sky-high prices, being on the cover of Forbes, to appearing on the cover of Asia Weekly for the second time in many years, and bringing Tron and the crypto field into the limelight, how do you view the titles of “marketing genius” and “crypto pioneer” given to you by the outside world?
Justin Sun: Being called a “marketing master” is a compliment to me personally. Marketing is also an indispensable part of business. There is a Chinese saying that goes “Even good wine needs no bush.” At the same time, I am just an entrepreneur. My core goal is to lead the team to build TRON into a better product. Some people may complain about Justin Sun, but I think it is more of a temporary misunderstanding. Time will prove everything.
The essence of marketing is products. In this world where information is becoming more and more transparent, if users are deceived as fools, then this business model will not last. Today, the achievements of TRON are somewhat related to my personal marketing, but more come from our unknown engineers and countless developers in the community. It is their efforts that support the confidence of 300 million users in TRON.
03
The Journey of the Post-90s Elite to the New World of Cryptocurrency
Plain Language Blockchain: In 2011, you appeared on the cover of (Asia Weekly) for the first time as a “post-90s elite”. Do you still remember your Internet entrepreneurial experience that year?
Justin Sun: My Internet entrepreneurship actually happened after I first appeared on the cover of (Asia Weekly). The cover itself has little to do with entrepreneurship, but I still remember the entrepreneurial experience at that time. In 2013, when I graduated from Penn and returned to China, the domestic Internet entrepreneurship was actually coming to an end. If this Internet entrepreneurship boom had been delayed by 5 years, I think I might have become the second Wang Xing and created the second Meituan. While studying in the United States, I learned about Bitcoin and decided that this was the future, so I chose to go all in and use a more efficient decentralized system to innovate the Internet. At that time, few people should have realized the potential of this matter. Looking back now, this belief and persistence are correct.
04
Encounter with Bitcoin
Plain Language Blockchain: Bitcoin was in its infancy at that time. There have been reports that you came into contact with Bitcoin very early. Can you share your experience of first coming into contact with Bitcoin and how you view it?
Justin Sun: I remember the first time I really came into contact with Bitcoin was when I saw someone using Bitcoin for transactions on a foreign forum. I also downloaded the Bitcoin Core Wallet and spent several days synchronizing the block data. At that time, I didn’t think about investing. I was just curious and bought some Bitcoin to play around with, mainly to understand the technical logic behind it. After reading Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper, I was shocked by the concepts of “decentralization” and “trust mechanism” - a system that does not require an intermediary and is supported by mathematics and cryptography is simply a subversive imagination of traditional finance.
My view on it at that time was: it has potential, but it is still far from large-scale application. After all, the blockchain technology in 2011 was too primitive, the transaction speed was slow, and the cognitive threshold was high. Many people thought it was just a "geek toy" or "dark web currency." However, I have always felt that the significance of Bitcoin is not just the currency itself, but that it has opened up a new trust model, paving the way for the subsequent blockchain technology.
05
ALL in Blockchain
Plain Language Blockchain: Switching from Internet entrepreneurship to the encryption field was not a common thing at the time. How did you make this decision?
Justin Sun: Switching from Internet entrepreneurship to the crypto field was indeed an "alternative" choice at the time. I decided to jump into the crypto field mainly because of my fascination with Bitcoin and blockchain technology. After I came into contact with Bitcoin in the United States, I spent a lot of time studying Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper and early blockchain projects, and I increasingly felt that this was an underlying technology that could change the world. Decentralization, immutability, and peer-to-peer trust mechanisms, these characteristics made me see a possibility that goes beyond the traditional Internet - no matter how popular Web2.0 is, the core is still the centralized platform that controls data and traffic, while blockchain allows users to truly "own" their own digital assets and identities.
The opportunity to switch to the crypto field came around 2013, when the price of Bitcoin started to pick up a bit, and the discussion of blockchain also spread from the geek circle to a wider range. At that time, I felt that although Internet entrepreneurship was lively, the dividends had been divided up by big players, and it was difficult for newcomers to break through. Blockchain was still a blue ocean, and the technology, applications, and business models were all in the early stages, full of opportunities. So I made up my mind and started to devote myself to the crypto field around 2014. In 2017, I founded TRON, with the goal of building a decentralized Internet infrastructure.
This decision was actually quite risky, and many people were not optimistic about it. But I have always believed that real innovation often happens on the fringes. Facts have proved that this step was right. TRON has now become the world's leading public chain, and the wave of Web3 has also verified the judgment of that year. Looking back, the biggest driving force is still the belief in technology and curiosity about the future!
06
TRON's biggest challenge
Plain Language Blockchain: What is the biggest challenge you have faced in the crypto space over the years? How did you overcome it?
Justin Sun: I think the biggest challenge is to provide products and services that satisfy all users. From the perspective of meeting the needs of 8 billion users worldwide, the biggest challenge facing TRON is how to build a truly inclusive, easy-to-use and efficient decentralized ecosystem, so that blockchain technology can move from a small circle of geeks to the global public. 8 billion people means diverse needs, cultural differences, different technical levels and economic backgrounds, which puts extremely high demands on the performance, accessibility, security and compliance of the public chain. So far, this challenge still exists.
Our response strategies include leading technical strength and high-quality products and services, which are reflected in TRON's continuous optimization of the DPoS consensus mechanism, increasing the TPS transaction volume to thousands of levels per second, and reducing transaction fees to a few cents, ensuring high efficiency and low cost; in terms of globalization, TRON has established localized teams in multiple countries and regions to adapt to local regulations and culture; in addition, the diversity of TRON's ecology enables us to cover scenarios such as finance, entertainment, and social networking to meet the needs of different user groups.
07
Next stop: Global financial “on-chain settlement layer”
Plain Language Blockchain: I noticed that you recently introduced in an exclusive interview with Forbes that the daily stablecoin transaction volume of the TRON network leads the world, and is expected to reach 7 trillion US dollars in 2025, surpassing traditional financial giants such as Visa. What do you think is the core advantage of TRON that enables it to lead the global stablecoin transactions and compete for the "on-chain settlement layer"?
Justin Sun: The core advantages of TRON leading the global stablecoin transactions are low cost, high efficiency and a broad user base. Our DPoS consensus mechanism achieves more than 2,500 transactions per second, with transaction fees close to zero, much lower than other public chains such as Ethereum, making TRC20-USDT the first choice for high-frequency, small-amount payments, especially in cross-border payments and developing countries.
In addition, TRON has over 300 million wallet addresses and over 2 million daily active users on the chain. DeFi, NFT and cross-chain protocols such as Sun.io and JustLend DAO have formed a powerful closed loop within the ecosystem, attracting users and developers from all over the world. In short, TRON has built the world's most efficient stablecoin settlement network through its technological advantages, user scale and compliance layout, making it an ideal choice for the "on-chain settlement layer".
Plain Language Blockchain: I am very happy to see that the TRON network has achieved such results. In comparison, it is related to your ultra-early layout of the stablecoin strategy. Now stablecoin has become the hottest topic in the industry. So what do you think about the next development of stablecoin?
Justin Sun: The next step in the development of stablecoins will be to integrate more deeply into the global financial system and become a bridge between traditional finance and blockchain. We have seen that stablecoins have evolved from a simple transaction medium to a core asset for payment, settlement and DeFi. In the future, I think there will be three trends:
First, compliance will be stricter, and stablecoins like USDT will further cooperate with regulators to obtain licenses from more countries and regions;
Secondly, stablecoins will be expanded to more scenarios, such as on-chain salary payment, cross-border e-commerce settlement, and even the supplement of central bank digital currency;
Finally, technology will focus more on privacy and programmability, such as combining zero-knowledge proof to enhance transaction privacy, or supporting complex financial derivatives through smart contracts.
TRON will continue to optimize network performance, maintain its low-cost and high-throughput advantages, and promote cooperation with traditional financial institutions, such as expanding the coverage of payment systems and ensuring the dominant position of stablecoins in the global payment network.
08
What makes the Trump family’s cryptocurrency project WLFI unique
Plain Language Blockchain: As the largest holder and project advisor of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency project World Liberty Financial’s governance token, can you tell us about your views on it?
Justin Sun: WLFI is unique in that it is backed by the influence of the Trump family and its strategic positioning on the hegemony of the US dollar, which gives it a differentiated advantage in the DeFi field. The rapid growth of USD1 verifies the market demand for US dollar stablecoins, and the cooperation with Aave and Ethena Labs further strengthens the technical strength. TRON and I invested $75 million in WLF $WLFI because I believe it can become a global benchmark for US dollar stablecoin settlement, similar to TRON's role in USDT transactions.
09
USD1 minting on TRON network is an important milestone for stablecoin and TRON ecosystem
Plain Language Blockchain: I recently noticed that you posted a message on the social platform: "The USD1 stablecoin supported by the Trump family WLFI has been officially minted on the TRON network. It is a small step for USD1, but a huge leap for stablecoins." Can you briefly explain the significance of USD1 to stablecoins and the TRON network?
Justin Sun: USD1 minting on the TRON network is an important milestone in the stablecoin field and TRON ecosystem. For stablecoins, USD1 is backed by the influence of World Liberty Financial (WLF) and the Trump family, combined with the advantages of US dollar asset reserves and compliance, which enhances the market's trust in US dollar stablecoins. It circulates through TRON's low-cost, high-throughput network, further promoting the popularity of stablecoins in global payments, DeFi and cross-border settlements, and challenging the inefficient system of traditional finance. This marks a huge leap for stablecoins from the margins to mainstream finance.
For TRON, the addition of USD1 consolidates our leading position as the global stablecoin settlement layer. TRON has processed more than $5 trillion in USDT transactions, and the minting of USD1 further enriches the ecosystem and attracts more users and institutions. Its arrival enhances the synergy between TRON and WLFI. For example, the integration of Aave's borrowing platform and on-chain payment functions in the future will increase network activity and transaction volume.
10
Crypto Future: The Starry Sky
Plain Language Blockchain: This year, a series of favorable regulatory policies for cryptocurrencies are being implemented in the United States. A series of bills such as the highly anticipated stablecoin (GENIUS Act), (FIT21 Financial Innovation and Technology Act), and (Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act) have made optimistic progress. How do you view the long-term impact of clear regulation?
Justin Sun: Clear regulation provides a clear legal framework for the stablecoin and digital asset markets and reduces uncertainty. In the long run, these bills will reshape the global financial landscape. The United States consolidates the leadership of the US dollar stablecoin through regulation, which may weaken the market share of non-fully compliant stablecoins and resist the competitive pressure of European MiCA regulations. As the network with the largest stablecoin transaction volume, TRON will take advantage of this opportunity to further optimize the efficiency of on-chain settlement, cooperate with more competitive projects, and seize the dominance of the global "on-chain settlement layer".
However, regulation also brings challenges. Compliance costs may lead to market concentration, and large players such as Circle may benefit, while small and medium-sized issuers may need to adjust their strategies. For TRON, we will continue to invest in technology optimization and compliance capabilities to ensure the leading position of the ecosystem in the new era of regulation. Clarifying regulation is a turning point for the crypto industry from "disorder" to "regulation", which is both an opportunity and a new starting point for global competition.
11
Future opportunities for ordinary people in the crypto space
Plain Language Blockchain: As the mainstreaming process of the encryption field progresses, more and more capital giants are participating in the layout. Based on your experience, can you simply predict what future trend opportunities may be available to ordinary people?
Justin Sun: The mainstreaming of the crypto field is an inevitable trend, and ordinary people still have huge opportunities.
First, low-threshold investments in DeFi and Web3, such as staking and liquidity mining, can still bring relatively high returns.
Second, NFT and Metaverse related assets seize the early dividends of the combination of culture and technology.
Third, pay attention to emerging public chains and Layer 2 ecosystems, follow and join potential project communities, receive airdrops, etc. The key is to learn, keep up with trends, and bravely try and fail. In the next ten years, encryption will reshape the wealth landscape!
Plain Language Blockchain: This year’s college entrance examination has just ended, and many students are about to fill out their applications and choose their life direction. As a senior and a leader in financial technology, what advice do you have for these who may be the future “new forces” in the encryption field?
Justin Sun: After the college entrance examination, congratulations to these young people for entering a new stage! My advice to students who are interested in the field of encryption is:
First, learn the underlying technology well. Blockchain, cryptography, and distributed systems are the core. A solid technical foundation will help you get twice the result with half the effort.
Second, stay curious. The crypto world is changing with each passing day. Pay attention to the trends of DeFi, Web3, and AI integration, and try DApp more often.
Third, be adventurous, join early-stage projects or entrepreneurial teams, and accumulate practical experience. The future belongs to you, seize the opportunity, and bravely shape your own crypto era!