As the topic of how young people can quickly accumulate wealth becomes a hot discussion on social platforms, and as seemingly unattainable wealth stories are repeated, Sun Yuchen and his TRON are undoubtedly one of the most controversial footnotes in the crypto circle. What kind of logic and hidden worries lie behind this gamble that began over a decade ago?
In 2013, the blockchain field was still in its infancy, and Sun Yuchen entered the industry as the ambassador of Ripple China, accumulating original capital and social resources early on. This first-mover advantage laid the groundwork for his later entrepreneurship. While most people were still watching from the sidelines, he had already sensed the possibility of independently building an ecosystem.
In 2017, against the backdrop of Ethereum's rising prominence, 27-year-old Sun Yuchen made a crucial pivot. He set aside an existing social app business, teamed up with a classmate from Peking University, and launched the TRON public chain project with capital backing. At that time, the ICO model was at its peak, and TRON's TRX token successfully raised about 400 million USD, seemingly starting off on a smooth path.
However, policy changes often come unexpectedly. The 9.4 regulatory storm abruptly halted the ICO model, leading to a mass exodus of practitioners. At this moment, Sun Yuchen experienced the most severe test since starting his business: refunding the funds raised, team disbandment, and his expression of nearly all efforts in the first three years being wasted, reflecting the difficulties and struggles he faced at that time.
The real turning point came in 2019 with the cooperation with Tether. The launch of the TRC-20 version of USDT became the decisive factor for TRON's ecosystem. The brilliance of this move lies in its avoidance of the red ocean of public chain technology competition, instead anchoring on stablecoins as a foundational infrastructure—when global USDT transfer demand continues to grow, TRON quickly seizes the market with its low cost and high speed characteristics.
Current data confirms the success of this strategy: the transfer volume and gas consumption of USDT on the TRON network account for over 98%, with daily on-chain revenue exceeding 2.1 million USD and annual revenue reaching 770 million USD. With a market cap of 26.96 billion USD, TRON firmly remains among the mainstream public chains.
But objectively, this successful model also has obvious shortcomings. The ecological activity of TRON relies heavily on USDT, similar to building a skyscraper on a single pillar; once the stablecoin market landscape changes, its foundation may be shaken. In addition, compared to Ethereum and other public chains that have deeply cultivated decentralized applications and developer ecosystems, TRON's accumulation in technological innovation and ecological diversity still seems insufficient.
Sun Yuchen's gamble is essentially a precise battle for traffic and resource positioning. He has captured the cyclical dividends of the blockchain industry with pragmatic strategies, but whether this victory can be transformed into long-term competitiveness still needs time to test. Under the dual variables of regulation and technological iteration, TRON's story is far from reaching its final chapter.
