Note: BitIRA does not currently offer TRON IRAs, though it may in the future. Currently, other crypto IRA types are available.

Diversification is the cornerstone of every sensible portfolio, and there is arguably no portfolio more important than your retirement account. Compared to a conventional IRA, digital IRAs offer the option to combine cryptocurrencies and many other appealing assets into a single account that is under your complete control. Our guide on self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs) outlines the many benefits of these investment vehicles and explains how to open one with minimal hassle.

As individual coins grow and mature, we place them into consideration to form a basis for our digital IRAs. And while we haven’t made TRON IRAs a part of our offering yet, few coins have grown as quickly and shown as much promise in such a small amount of time. As opposed to merely creating a faster or more secure coin, TRX’s creators have set a very high standard in terms of what they plan to achieve.

 

TRON is the biggest upset to the entertainment industry in modern times

All top cryptocurrencies aim to differ from one another in some way, be it by targeting a specific kind of user or doing something better than their peers. TRON and its TRX token follow the same principle, albeit with exceptional ambition, and primarily aims to:

• Reimburse creators directly 
• Remove monopolies over markets 
• Streamline content delivery

 

Who started TRON?

The TRON project is the brainchild of Justin Sun, a Chinese developer with ties to Jack Ma, founder of the Alibaba Group. Prior to creating his own token, Sun was part of Ripple’s Chinese market team.

In September 2017, Sun and his team of developers launched the TRON Foundation and quickly raised the necessary capital to pursue their venture. Instead of simply issuing a token, Sun’s company created one of the largest proprietary blockchain networks in the world, along with outlining a six-step, decade-long plan of action.

In a sense, TRON could be perceived as a mixture of Ripple and Ethereum, combining the former’s niche focus with the latter’s scalability. Yet Sun and his team have been very outspoken about wanting to not only best both tokens, but also usurp a sector that has been set in stone for decades: the entertainment industry.

What is TRON trying to achieve?

Currently, virtually all content creators suffer from having to work through a middleman in order to get reimbursed for their services. These middlemen are usually gigantic corporations that tend to monopolize their respective markets, take a major share from every purchase and, more often than not, make content delivery more complicated than necessary.

Sun’s goal to eliminate all of these issues in one fell swoop is what makes the TRON network and its TRX currency so interesting to us. Using cryptocurrencies for content payment would be a novelty in itself, yet TRON is aiming to change the way we perceive content distribution.

Instead of having to license their content out to a third party and be subjected to its whims, TRON allows creators to store their art, be it movies, music, games or anything else, on a blockchain ledger. From there, consumers can preview or purchase the content directly from the TRON network via TRX tokens. In summary, TRON gives artists and creators an easy-to-access, no-strings-attached platform to store, share and sell their innovations.

This approach goes hand-in-hand with the values of the creator of the World Wide Web itself, Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, who asserted that the internet should exist to serve the people and not be ruled by a few powerful companies. TRON is therefore looking to take the decentralized appeal of cryptocurrencies and apply it to the web as a whole, removing the monopolies that have been created in the entertainment industry.

 

Do TRON’s inner workings live up to its revolutionary bottom line?

While Sun’s end-goal is remarkable, it pays to assess the foundations behind his ambitious project. As we previously noted, both Sun and his team have ample experience working in the crypto industry and were well-versed with both the development and business side of it before launching the project. Let’s round up some of the things that make TRON stand out, both on its own and in regards to other cryptocurrencies.

• High throughput
  

  As per Sun’s own admission, TRON heavily eclipses Ethereum in both speed and scalability. In April 2018, Sun drew a comparison to showcase that the Ethereum network allows for only 25 transactions per second (TPS) versus TRON’s 10000 TPS.

• High scalability
  

  Besides the absence of transaction fees, TRON also doesn’t depend on the habitual burning of coins to maintain the health of its network. Instead, it utilizes Delegated-Proof-of-Stake, an upgraded version of Ethereum’s own PoS system, to power its transactions. As the network expands, so does the amount of consensus-operators, as anyone with enough stake in the network can take part in verifying transactions.

• High availability
  

  Because there is no cap on the amount of people who can verify transactions on the TRON network, the expansion of the ecosystem will invariably lead to a progressively higher number of PoS operators, ensuring that the network operates seamlessly even under high load.

• Consistency
  

  A year after Sun’s comparison to Ethereum, his claims have held up even as the TRON network branched out into the area of blockchain-powered digital apps (DApps). A recent report showed that TRON currently boasts over 350,000 DApp users, making it the fastest-growing network in that sector. Despite this, TRON’s network hasn’t suffered any speed or clogging issues as its userbase grew exponentially.

• Eliminates middleman
  

  Among other things, TRON seeks to emulate platforms like YouTube and Amazon and allow content creators to offer previews and full purchases of their products while receiving reimbursement without reliance on a third party. Instead, the exchange is made entirely between the seller and the buyer, with TRON’s network merely providing a data-storage and method-of-payment solution.

• Focused on decentralization
  

  Decentralization could be called TRON’s core principle. Aside from wanting to eliminate central authorities that have taken too large of a foothold on the internet, TRON’s network and its currency are entirely free-floating. This focus is further exemplified by how transactions are run on the network. TRON features 27 supernodes as the core of its operations, yet these nodes are rotated every 6 hours and their owners are elected by TRX users based on how well they’ve performed. With this approach, TRON has placed unprecedented importance on its community, even compared to other tokens.

• Content creation
  

  By eliminating middlemen from the equation, TRON encourages content creation by giving creators freedom to distribute their works without needing someone’s approval. In an era where the entertainment industry has come under increased scrutiny over censorship, the option to freely distribute your content to interested parties comes off as exceptionally valuable.

• Security
  

  The speed of TRON’s transactions has made the network a leading choice for gambling DApps, as it gives users affirmation that they will be reimbursed for their winnings. This is just one example of TRON’s security perks, however. The aforementioned 6-hour rotation of supernoders based on their performance provides the network with an exceedingly solid assurance of quality.

 

What is the future outlook for TRON and its token?

Increased adoption

As noted, few crypto developers boast the kind of laser focus that Sun and his company do, as TRON launched the token with a manifesto outlining six stages of its progression. The initial stages involve creating a decentralized platform for content upload and distribution, as well as establishing a DPoS system.

From the mid-2020s and onwards, TRON aims to utilize its network to further cement itself as a competitor to large middleman companies. Here, the TRON Foundation will seek to help creators promote themselves better in order to stray further from the existing entertainment industry model and create an equally-rewarding peer-to-peer system of content distribution. Eventually, Sun hopes that the TRON network will allow users to launch their own ICOs and even create their own tokens.

While it’s impossible to predict a project’s exact growth trajectory, the goals and accomplishments thus far speak for themselves. Overhauling the $1 trillion entertainment industry is a bold move, and Sun has shown no signs of slowing down ever since the token was launched.

Partnerships and acquisitions

In May 2019, the Opera Mini browser included the TRX token in its built-in crypto wallet, exposing its 300 million users to TRON and its features. Like Sun and his company, the team behind the browser are striving to usher in a new era of the internet, one that focuses on decentralization, privacy and cryptocurrencies as a standard means of payment.

Meanwhile, Sun has been working diligently to uphold TRON’s original purpose, having purchased the p2p file-sharing service BitTorrent in July 2018. Most recently, Sun stated that his next goal is to get the TRX token listed on all of the major U.S. exchanges.

 

Don’t wait for the future – open your digital IRA today.

TRON’s focus on changing how an entire industry works is what separates it from other coins, and we are very much interested in its progress. Although BitIRA doesn’t yet offer TRON IRAs, subscribing to our newsletter will inform you if the option becomes available. If you’re ready to expand your portfolio with digital assets today, you can take a look at our existing crypto IRA options and choose a coin that interests you the most.