DEFI DOMINANCE DEFI DOMINANCE

)DeFi( يزكرملالا ليومتلا ةنميه

TRON, IS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST POPULAR BLOCKCHAIN-BASED OPERATING SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD. TRON WAS FOUNDED IN 2017 IN DEDICATION TO ACCELERATING AND TO THE DECENTRALISATION OF THE INTERNET THROUGH BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND DECENTRALIZED APPLICATIONS. KAI DOWLING SITS DOWN WITH JUSTIN SUN TO DISCUSS TRON, NFTS AND CRYPTO ADOPTION.

FOR THOSE NEW TO THE CRYPTO INDUSTRY - COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHAT TRON IS ABOUT?

In 2018 TRON acquired BitTorrent, the leader in peerto-peer technology with the aim to build a free, global digital content entertainment system with distributed storage technology, that allows easy and cost-effective sharing of digital content. With highly scalable, fast and affordable technology, TRON has one of the largest and most active communities in the whole crypto space and has established itself as an extremely agile ecosystem.

WHAT PUTS TRON OVER OTHER CRYPTO COMPANIES/COINS

- WHAT IS YOUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

TRON’s improved Delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism for transactions are also not only confirmed by all network nodes, but by regularly elected superrepresentatives, the number of which is limited to 27 and receive significant rewards from TRON for their work. The network also provides each user with the opportunity to conduct about 15 simple transactions for free, which is not the case for many other competitors in the field.

The DeFi boom is another factor that sets TRON apart from the rest of the competitive landscape. TRON has cemented its dominance in the industry and currently TRON DeFi ecosystem has a total value locked equalling $14.3billion and is home to over 46% of the total market cap of USDT.

DO YOU SEE CRYPTO-ADOPTION

SKYROCKETING THIS YEAR, MORE THAN IT ALREADY HAS? WILL WE SEE CRYPTOCURRENCIES OTHER THAN BITCOIN ENTER THE MAINSTREAM?

The 2021 bull run has helped catapult crypto and Bitcoin into the conversations of the masses. There has also been an uptick in social sentiment about Bitcoin, this may be because of interest from respected thought leaders such as Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey, as well as institutional interest that has grown exponentially this past year. Bitcoin has gone from just being a worthless speculative asset to the conversation that everyone and their grandmother is having.

COULD NFTS

Take Tron

TO THE NEXT LEVEL?

The JUST NFT Fund is TRON’s official entry into the NFT market. With the acquisition of “OCEAN FRONT by Beeple, Picasso’s “Femme nue couchée au collier” and Andy Warhol’s “Three self portraits”, the fund already has a value close to $30 million. I have been collecting NFT’s for a period of time and recognised the value it could have for the entire crypto economy.

DO YOU THINK THAT NFTS ARE HERE TO STAY AS A 100 YEAR PRODUCT OR IS IT A BUBBLE WAITING TO BURST?

NFT’s could have a variety of potential use cases outside of digital content. Including turning financial documents into NFTs to manage financial supply chain logistics such as assignment of payment obligations. Gaming and tokenization of in game assets is another great example of a use case that a lot of projects are currently working on. NFT infrastructure can also enable various applications from appraisals and insurance to securitisation and asset-backed lending. NFT’s have a bright and unlimited future and could revolutionise the art and entertainment world.

ARE THERE NEW PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE THAT WE SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR FROM TRON?

TRON is always building and innovating! Picasso and Andy Warhol will soon be the first works of master artists to be tokenized, and is an exciting new launch to be looking out for. We have also entered multiple strategic partnerships across the industry to bring innovative Blockchain solutions to the TRON community. This has opened access to IDO’s, SHO’s, cross-chain oracles and others such functionalities on the TRON ecosystem. We also announced the TRON Hackathon as part of our $120million Entrepreneurial support program recently, this is to help foster the growth of DeFi and NFT’s on the TRON ecosystem. So far the program has received a lot of interest and we expect to see the launch of many exciting new projects very soon.

WHERE CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE TRON IN FIVETEN YEARS?

With $14.4 Billion total value locked in TRON’s DeFi ecosystem, TRON is already well on its way to becoming the global settlement layer. In the next five to ten years we fully expect to see TRON develop into an economic necessity in the world of cryptocurrency. The mass migration of projects and the boom of USDT on TRON are just a few indicators of the winds of change.

BITCOIN AND ETHEREUM ARE THE GO-TO CRYPTOCURRENCIES OF THIS DAY AND AGE. MANY INVESTORS LOOK AT BITCOIN AS A DIGITAL GOLD WHILE OTHER INVESTORS, LIKE MARK CUBAN, ARE INTRIGUED BY ETHEREUM’S POTENTIAL. KAI DOWLING REACHED OUT TO TONE VAYS FOR HIS INSIGHTS ON THIS INTERESTING TOPIC.

During 2020 Bitcoin experienced a huge rise in popularity. Many economists and experts were waiting for its downfall but today Bitcoin is still alive and kicking, breaking more barriers in 2021.

The pandemic has certainly accelerated crypto’s popularity and many investors are reaping the benefits from getting in early. With Bitcoin’s success many are searching for the next big coin - with Ethereum being the people’s choice.

Ethereum has failed to reach the heights of Bitcoin but many investors are now hoping it can eventually reach the number one cryptocurrency in the game.

WHERE DO BITCOIN AND ETHEREUM CURRENTLY STAND?

In the past Bitcoin was not taken seriously with many investors thinking of the cryptocurrency as just a fad with no real potential. Fast forward a couple of years and Bitcoin is a few steps away from the mainstream.

Major investment banks like Goldman Sachs are looking at ways to incorporate Bitcoin into their operations. The bank recently relaunched its cryptocurrency trading desk which will see them deal Bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards for clients.

Meanwhile, JMP Securities expects a $1.5 trillion of incremental capital flow into Bitcoin, a larger amount than its current market cap, while German authorities are currently developing technology that allows investors to buy and sell securities on the Blockchain and in exchange receive central bank money.

These significant moves in the market have resulted in Bitcoin becoming the world’s third largest currency.

However, Ethereum hasn’t reached the levels of its competitor. The second biggest cryptocurrency has struggled to break the barriers Bitcoin has surpassed with ease, as investors are still waiting to pass the $2,000 mark. Ethereum is responsible for the growth of new tokens that follow the

ERC-20 spec but several issues are holding it back from growing.

The smart contract platform showed early signs of promise but due to a number of disadvantages, according to Tone Vays, Ethereum will fail to reach the heights of Bitcoin.

Speaking to Dr Irina Heaver in an AIBC interview, he said, “It was when I watched the Cyprus banking confiscation in 2013, that’s when it hit me that I needed to put my money into something safer. I wanted my savings to be unconfiscatable and Bitcoin was the only way to go. Still, today my most important property is Bitcoin and the number one reason anyone should consider Bitcoin for some of their savings.”

The benefits are something he understands well. He looks back to a time when his family fled the Soviet Union for the US and were only allowed to leave with 100 US dollars per person. “It didn’t matter how much wealth you had. Bitcoin stops that. No one has to know how much Bitcoin you have, you can transfer it, there’s no permission - I continue to educate people that these are the properties that matter.”

“This is what separates Bitcoin from everything else in the crypto space. It is the only one that’s decentralized and the only one where you can and should run a node and the only one with the mining structure that burns enough electricity not to get attacked.”

WHY WILL ETHEREUM FALL SHORT?

“I do not have an expectation that investors would choose Ethereum over Bitcoin in the long term. There is really no advantage that Ethereum has over Bitcoin.

Yes, there are more projects built utilising the Ethereum Blockchain but 99% of those projects are totally useless with the majority of them being outright security scams. As the SEC continues to bring charges against these companies it will reflect on Ethereum’s popularity as well.

As an investment, Bitcoin once again shines since Ethereum does not even know what their future inflation rate will be. It is not a scarce asset & even its creators will tell you that using it as money or store of value is not wise.

On the technological side, Ethereum has proven that it is not decentralised and any mistake can be reversed. Ethereum is essentially a centralised project, with leaders that have the ability to alter tech in the chain.

Additionally, no one knows what will happen with Ethereum 2.0 as they move from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake eliminating their Miners. Personally, I feel that having mining is the only thing that makes it a Blockchain so we will see what happens.

In the end, any wise investor would stay clear from Ethereum other than a shortterm trade to acquire more Bitcoin. Bitcoin sidechains like Liquid and RGB can provide the same foundation layer for projects that Ethereum does, people just need to wise up and do some research,” says Tone. However, Ethereum does have its fair share of supporters, such as Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban who believes that Ethereum is the closest crypto there is to a true currency.

Ethereum uses a different Blockchain to Bitcoin and is considered to be far more flexible, since other cryptocurrencies can be created on Ethereum Blockchain.

The well-known investor, who claims to have a portfolio consisting of 60% in Bitcoin, 30% in Ethereum and the remainder in smaller cryptocurrencies, thinks that Ethereum is more of a currency than Bitcoin.

Cuban highlights Ethereum’s smart contracts, NFTs and defi to be game changers which has led a lot of investors to keep an eye Ethereum and its potential growth. The cryptocurrency is showing a lot of promise for development due to these features and therefore, it is adaptable over time.