TRON, the blockchain platform that was developed using Ethereum and then announced itself a competitor, has announced a new partnership with Tether, the startup company that backs a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency.
This coloration aims to launch a TRC20-based version of the USDt stablecoin by the early second quarter of 2019.
TRC20 tokens are standard coins issued on Tron’s network, which offers two ways to issue tokens and some advantage in specific use cases. Both the tokens (TRC10 and TRC20) can be considered to be as Tron-native analogs to ERC-20. TRC20 is said to be nearly similar to ERC-20.
The news of adding Tether to TRON’s blockchain comes in the wake of a prolonged debate over its tokens, which are backed by US dollar deposits, with each token always worth one dollar.
In addition to allegations of not having adequate USD reserve to back its USDT token, recent research by a University of Texas professor claimed that Tether seems to be used to generate fake demand to both stabilize and manipulate Bitcoin prices. Although the report can’t confirm price manipulation, it does point to suspicious patterns.
Questions about Tether and Bitfinex have dogged the cryptocurrency world since last year after the CFTC asked the leading bitcoin exchange to provide more information about their relationships, as the two entities share the same CEO, Jean-Louis van der Velde.
More about TRON…
Founded by Chinese entrepreneur Justin Jun, TRON is a blockchain-based protocol dedicated to creating what it calls a “decentralized and free internet.” The TRON network provides mechanisms for allocating the value of user-generated content, with anyone who contributes content being entitled to profits of proportional value.
The company has its own crypto-currency, dubbed TRX, which had a market cap of $1.25 billion at the time of writing.
Last year, the Tron Foundation said it would be working closely with Baidu, a China-based internet giant, to work on a large cloud service with the final goal of providing better blockchain solutions. The announcement confirms that despite its crackdown on cryptocurrencies, Baidu is still interested in utilizing the blockchain technology.
In addition, Tron has recently closed a deal to buy the file-sharing service BitTorrent for a reported sum of $126 million.
Commenting on the news, Jean-Louis van der Velde, Chief Executive Officer of Tether, said: “We are pleased to announce this collaboration with the Tron Foundation. This integration underlines our commitment to furthering innovation within the cryptocurrency space as we continue to anticipate the needs and demands of the digital asset community.”
“Our collaboration with Tether to bring a USDT TRC-20 token to TRON will bring incredible stability and confidence to users. As we perform and execute on our vision, they can easily redeem their tokens for US dollars,” added Sun.
(Photo: Tron)
