USDT issuance hegemony changes hands: Why can TRON surpass Ethereum?

On May 22, the issuance of USDT on the TRON blockchain surpassed $77.7 billion, exceeding both the total supply and circulation of Ethereum, making it the largest stablecoin issuance network in the world.

Stablecoins are not only an important part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem but are also beginning to play a significant role in cross-border payments within the traditional financial system. Surpassing Ethereum in the stablecoin sector not only marks the maturity of the TRON network technology but also reveals its dominant position in decentralized finance (DeFi) and global payments.

The Technical Strength Behind the Double Kill of Ethereum

Efficiency and cost are often the two most concerning aspects for on-chain traders. Efficiency, to put it simply, means no congestion and fast speed, while cost refers to low transaction fees.

In terms of efficiency, TRON's transaction confirmation time is only a few seconds, processing over 2000 transactions per second (TPS=2000), which is on par with the VISA payment system, while Ethereum's mainnet processes only double-digit transactions per second (TPS=30), leading to congestion when transaction volume increases.

Regarding cost, TRON's average fees have long remained below $1, and there are ways to reduce fees to $0.20 or even make them free. The fees consist of bandwidth and energy, with bandwidth being given away for free daily, and energy can be purchased or rented, with renting being 80% cheaper than buying. For frequent transfers, after renting energy, the fee for each transfer can be controlled at around $0.50, far lower than other public chains. In contrast, Ethereum's gas fees can easily reach hundreds, meaning that $10-20 is needed to complete a transfer, which is nearly 100 times the cost of TRON.

Although Ethereum is also upgrading to address congestion and cost issues, it is ultimately a step behind, watching its market share surpassed by the stronger competitor, TRON.

In addition to the long-term low transfer fees, TRON also launched the GasFree feature in April 2025, breaking the original concept of on-chain transaction gas. Transfers no longer require TRX but can be paid in USDT during stablecoin transfers, further lowering the threshold for users to engage in on-chain transactions and solidifying its position as the dominant stablecoin issuance network.

Low cost, high efficiency, and GasFree are all favorable conditions for the development of stablecoins, and achieving such results is the outcome of TRON's continuous iteration.

In the past, TRON primarily promoted itself from an operational perspective, leading many to have little awareness of its technological iterations and upgrades. Looking back at its achievements, one can see that TRON's technical architecture is the core engine of its success and has been quietly iterating.

TRON founder Justin Sun proposed a long-term vision in four stages in 2018: Exodus, Odyssey, Great Voyage, and Star Trek. In 2021, TRON entered the Great Voyage stage, with the latest version being GreatVoyage-v4.8.0 (Kant) released in May 2025.

From the latest upgrade Kant, its technological innovations are reflected in three aspects, which include efficiency improvements and cost reductions.

Storage efficiency improvement: EIP-1153 introduces temporary storage functionality, reducing smart contract execution costs by 35%.

Cross-chain compatibility: Prototype sharding (EIP-4844) supports asset interoperability between TRON and Ethereum Rollups, increasing cross-chain transaction processing speed to 1500 transactions per second.

Developer friendliness: EIP-5656 optimizes memory copy efficiency, shortening DApp deployment time by 50%.

(After entering the Great Voyage, TRON's iteration speed has significantly accelerated, source ++TRON Developer Hub++)

Excellent network performance is like TRON's internal strength, allowing various ecosystems to maximize their value.

From Stablecoin Dominance to Full-Scene Financial Infrastructure

In addition to continuous iteration in network technology, TRON's ecosystem is also rapidly expanding. The blockchain data analysis platform CryptoQuant's 2024 TRON annual report shows that in 2024, the total number of transactions on TRON increased from 129.8 million in February to 239.6 million in October, an increase of 84%. Additionally, the total number of transactions for the entire year reached 2.38 billion.

As of May 20, 2025, TRON's network had over 307 million accounts, a 40% increase compared to a year ago, with a total locked asset value exceeding $23.6 billion.

(TRON Mainnet Data)

The on-chain TRC20-USDT transaction volume shows a very obvious growth trend, driven by emerging markets and remittance demand, with a daily processing volume reaching $19 billion.

(TRC20-USDT Transaction Data)

TRON's dominant position in USDT (accounting for 98.5% of its network stablecoins) also adds liquidity to DeFi protocols, with TVL increasing in tandem whenever Tether issues more tokens.

(TRON Stablecoin Quantity)

In Q1 2025, after Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States, TRON began to fully enter the American political stage. The prominent Trump family project World Liberty Financial (WLF) purchased TRX, and the USD1 stablecoin issued by Trump family-supported institutions was launched on Huobi HTX. TRON founder Justin Sun also attended a dinner hosted by President Trump. These events not only enhanced TRON's global influence but also provided strong brand endorsement for the continued growth of USDT.

Additionally, in terms of compliance, TRX has submitted a spot ETF application to the U.S. SEC, which, if approved, will become the first crypto ETF supporting staking features. TRON is also actively collaborating with the Dominican government and Tether's T3 financial crime department to build an on-chain monitoring system that complies with FATF travel rules, continuing to exert its influence in the financial sector.

Messari's annual report "Crypto Thesis 2024" mentions that TRON has a complete infrastructure and is committed to popularizing cryptocurrency, thus playing an important role in transforming global payment models.

Conclusion

TRON's success is by no means accidental; it is the result of the coordinated evolution of technology and ecosystem both internally and externally. By leveraging stablecoins as a fulcrum, it has tapped into the vast markets of DeFi, cross-border payments, and compliant finance, while exploring the next generation of financial infrastructure with AI and cross-chain technology. As Justin Sun stated, "TRON's goal is to become the core settlement layer for global financial transactions, providing efficient and low-cost financial services for various institutions and individuals."

In the future, as regulatory frameworks improve and technological boundaries are broken, TRON may become the core hub connecting traditional finance and the Web3 world. The realization of this vision will not only redefine the rules of value circulation but also accelerate the evolution of human society towards a more efficient, transparent, and inclusive financial system.