## **Overview**
[TRON](https://tron.network/index?lng=en) is an EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain that uses the [TRON Virtual Machine](https://developers.tron.network/docs/tvm) to enable the creation and deployment of [smart contracts](https://messari.io/asset/tron/profile) for decentralized applications. Its [architecture](https://developers.tron.network/docs/tron-ecosystem-introduction#consensus) features a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) election mechanism, whereby a DPoS election occurs every six hours and 27 [Super Representatives](https://developers.tron.network/docs/super-representatives) take turns producing blocks.
## **History**
Justin Sun [founded](https://opencorporates.com/companies/sg/201721312Z) TRON Foundation in Singapore in June 2017 before creating TRON, the independent peer-to-peer network. [ERC-20 TRX](https://etherscan.io/address/0xf230b790e05390fc8295f4d3f60332c93bed42e2) was launched in August 2017 as a placeholder token on Ethereum, during which the project’s [ICO](https://twitter.com/trondao/status/903222500431085571?s=20) was held.
TRON’s testnet was [launched](https://medium.com/tron-foundation/testnet-launch-announcement-transcript-justin-sun-3-31-18-29d60868fb30) in March 2018, and on June 25, 2018, ERC-20 TRX was officially [migrated](https://medium.com/tron-foundation/launch-of-tron-independence-day-mainnet-start-of-a-great-journey-5131405542a9) to TRON with the launch of its [mainnet](https://medium.com/tron-foundation/launch-of-tron-independence-day-mainnet-start-of-a-great-journey-5131405542a9). Following TRON’s mainnet launch, the TRON Virtual Machine went [live](https://twitter.com/trondao/status/1035230137166385152?s=20) on Aug. 30, 2018, enabling smart contract capabilities.
On July 25, 2018, TRON Foundation announced the [acquisition](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2018/07/25/tron-foundation-officially-completes-acquisition-of-bittorrent/) of BitTorrent, a file-sharing software provider, for $120.00 million. This acquisition further enhanced BitTorrent’s mission of “creating an Internet of options, not rules.”
On April 6, 2021, TRON DAO [announced](https://trondao.medium.com/trx-officially-leaps-into-the-deflation-era-becoming-the-worlds-first-deflationary-cryptocurrency-80e0955f651a) that TRX had transitioned from an inflationary to a deflationary token. This resulted from implementing [TRON Improvement Proposal 51](https://github.com/tronprotocol/tips/blob/master/tip-51.md), which (i) set the price of one bandwidth or energy at 0.00014 TRX and (ii) limited the fee of a single smart contract to 5,000 TRX. On Dec. 4, 2022, [TRON Improvement Proposal 79](https://tronscan.org/#/proposal/79) was passed, modifying the fee for one unit of energy to 0.00042 TRX and the upper limit fee for a single smart contract to 15,000 TRX.
In May 2022, TRON DAO [launched](https://twitter.com/trondao/status/1522186305559355392?s=20) an algorithmic stablecoin called USDD that is soft-pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar (USD) using a mint-and-burn mechanism. When the price of USDD is below $1.00, users burn USDD to mint TRX, and when the price of USDD is above $1.00, users burn TRX to mint USDD. Notably, USDD [has not been minted or burned](https://tdr.org/#/records) since July 17, 2022.
On April 7, 2023, TRON [upgraded](https://twitter.com/trondao/status/1644249885145964545) to Stake 2.0, which separated staking and delegation into two separate transactions. Additional notable changes [included](https://medium.com/tronnetwork/what-is-stake-2-0-e04f59b948a6#:\~:text=Difference%20between%20Stake%201.0%20and%20Stake%202.0) removing the previous three-day unstaking lock period and allowing partial unstaking to revoke only the voting power of unstaked tokens rather than the entire stake.
On June 2, 2023, Justin Sun [announced](https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1664582616098705409) that native TRX had been bridged to Ethereum via the BitTorrent bridge and was now available as [ERC-20 TRX](https://etherscan.io/address/0x50327c6c5a14dcade707abad2e27eb517df87ab5).
On Sept. 27, 2023, TRON DAO [announced](https://twitter.com/trondao/status/1706972512297668880) a new partnership with blockchain-based AI project [ChainGPT](https://twitter.com/Chain_GPT). The project plans to [integrate](https://www.chaingpt.org/blog/chaingpt-joining-forces-with-tron) with TRON and provide users with a toolkit for the easy deployment of smart contracts and NFTs on the network. Additionally, ChainGPT’s AI model will [feed](https://www.chaingpt.org/blog/chaingpt-joining-forces-with-tron#:\~:text=Training%20AI%20Model%20on%20Tron) TRON data, enabling its chatbot to interact with TRON users. Several projects on TRON are expected to integrate ChainGPT, including [DexCheck](https://twitter.com/DexCheck_io), [GT Protocol](https://twitter.com/GT_Protocol), and [AITECH](https://twitter.com/AITECHio).
On Oct. 25, 2023, TRON mainnet was upgraded to [GreatVoyage-v4.7.3 (”Chilon”)](https://medium.com/tronnetwork/mainnet-chilon-announcement-4d1d4bc39e7b). Chilon is a non-mandatory upgrade that [improves](https://twitter.com/trondao/status/1717784304644940183) the development experience on TRON by (i) fastening the speed associated with node startup and initialization, and (ii) optimizing the performance of network infrastructure. A full list of changes associated with the update can be found [here](https://medium.com/tronnetwork/mainnet-chilon-announcement-4d1d4bc39e7b).
On Dec. 6, 2023, Justin Sun [announced](https://twitter.com/trondao/status/1732285724752519506) four key initiatives for TRON:
- Enhancing [inscription](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/what-are-bitcoin-inscriptions-and-ordinals-and-how-do-they-work/959#:\~:text=Research%20article.-,Inscriptions,-Inscriptions%20are%20a) support on TRON.
- Integrating TRON with BRC-20, [a fungible token standard](https://chain.link/education-hub/brc-20-token) using ordinal inscriptions on Bitcoin.
- Launching a $100.00 million developer fund.
- Reducing energy costs on TRON to attract more users and developers.
