Disclaimer: Nansen has produced the following report in collaboration with Slice Analytics as part of its existing contract for services provided to TRON DAO (the "Customer") at the time of publication. While TRON DAO has the right to review and provide feedback to Nansen, Nansen maintains full editorial control over the publication of this report. All views expressed are the independent opinions of Nansen's research analyst(s) who are the author(s) named in this report. This report is intended for informational purposes only and does not serve as investment, financial, professional, or other advice. For more information, please refer to the disclaimer at the end of this report, as well as our Terms of Service.
Overview
The TRON network is a high-performance, Layer-1 blockchain platform designed to support decentralized applications (dApps), digital assets, and smart contracts with a focus on scalability, low transaction fees, and high throughput. Founded by Justin Sun, TRON uses a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism, allowing fast and energy-efficient transaction processing. With over 277 million user accounts and billions of transactions, TRON has become a prominent ecosystem for stablecoins, particularly USDT and DeFi applications. Its mission centers on decentralizing the internet by enabling seamless, borderless value exchange and fostering widespread adoption of blockchain technology.
In Q1 2025, TRON DAO continues to expand its ecosystem through strategic partnerships, innovation programs, and network enhancements. It has appointed Kiln and Nansen as Super Representatives to strengthen network security, governance, and transparency, while deepening its liquidity collaboration with Wintermute to optimize trading efficiency. At ETH Denver 2025, TRON sponsored the CUBE Summit to support emerging Web3 talent and promote decentralized finance. The DAO also launched the $10 million TRON Builders League to incubate high-potential projects across eight focus areas. Additionally, TRON partnered with pump.fun to launch PumpSwap, a cross-chain DEX designed to simplify token creation and trading, further accelerating decentralized Web3 adoption.
TRON’s growing visibility in mainstream media was underscored by a recent Forbes feature feature on founder Justin Sun, which highlighted his broader influence in the crypto industry and recent high-profile business activity. In a recent tweet, Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, emphasized the importance of stablecoins and TRON’s role in supporting peer-to-peer commerce in the U.S., stating that TRON DAO continues to provide the infrastructure that empowers millions to access blockchain-based dollar transactions every day.
Key Developments: Q1 2025
Kiln has been named the newest Super Representative of TRON DAO, a decentralized organization focused on advancing blockchain technology and decentralized applications. As a Super Representative, Kiln will help secure the TRON network by validating transactions, producing blocks, and participating in governance. This role places Kiln among 27 elected validators essential to TRON’s Delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. Known for its enterprise staking platform supporting over 50 protocols, Kiln brings extensive experience and credibility to the ecosystem.
TRON DAO announced the launch of the TRON Builders League (TBL), a $10 million incubator program aimed at fostering long-term innovation within the TRON ecosystem. Launched on February 19 during Consensus Hong Kong, TBL will support developers—especially those with experience in HackaTRON with funding, mentorship, and integration resources. The program features eight focus tracks, ranging from DeFi and AI to gaming and real-world asset tokenization, and emphasizes sustainable growth through strategic support and investor access. Projects will be evaluated on performance, market relevance, scalability, and token distribution, with a rolling application process for entry.
Wintermute has deepened its collaboration with TRON DAO to boost liquidity and trading efficiency across the TRON blockchain ecosystem. By leveraging its expertise in market making and liquidity provision, Wintermute will support key TRX trading pairs on both centralized and decentralized exchanges, reduce volatility, and improve the overall trading experience. The partnership also extends to over-the-counter (OTC) support for assets like TRX, USDT, USDD, and others, while offering market insights to sustain a healthy liquidity model.
At ETH Denver 2025, TRON DAO showcased its commitment to fostering blockchain innovation by serving as a Golden Sponsor of the inaugural CUBE Summit, a collaborative event uniting twelve prestigious university blockchain clubs. TRON DAO's Community Spokesperson, Sam Elfarra, delivered a keynote on stablecoins and payments, judged CUBE’s project pitch sessions, and presented a TRON award for the top project. The DAO also co-hosted CUBE Talent Night, a networking event aimed at empowering the next generation of Web3 leaders.
Nansen, a prominent blockchain analytics platform, has been appointed as a TRON Super Representative, reinforcing its role in supporting the TRON network’s governance, block production, and overall transparency. As a high-performance Layer-1 blockchain, TRON benefits from Nansen’s expertise in on-chain analytics, which will offer developers and stakeholders enhanced insights into smart contracts, wallet activity, and network dynamics.
TRON DAO has partnered with pump.fun, a leading token launchpad, to power the launch of PumpSwap, a new decentralized exchange (DEX) designed to improve liquidity access and cross-chain interoperability. Integrated directly with pump.fun, PumpSwap streamlines token creation and trading by eliminating migration steps, enhancing the user experience. Leveraging LayerZero and Wormhole, it enables seamless cross-chain liquidity and aims to streamline Web3 onboarding for users seeking decentralized alternatives to fiat onramps.
Ecosystem
DeFi
World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture backed by the family of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, has acquired over 30M TRON (TRX) tokens for its treasury, further strengthening its ties to the TRON ecosystem. Justin Sun, TRON’s founder and an advisor to World Liberty, is already its largest WLFI token holder with a $30M stake. This move follows World Liberty’s earlier crypto investments in AAVE and LINK.
The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a joint initiative by TRON, Tether, and TRM Labs announced it has frozen over $100 million in USDT linked to global criminal activities, marking a major milestone in combating crypto-related financial crime. Established in August 2024, T3 FCU collaborates with law enforcement agencies across five continents to tackle offenses such as money laundering, fraud, and terrorism financing. With over $3 billion in transaction volume monitored, the unit exemplifies the effectiveness of public-private partnerships in enhancing blockchain security.
Spain’s Guardia Civil, in coordination with the T3 Financial Crime Unit, has frozen $26.4M in cryptocurrency linked to a European money laundering network, marking the largest single asset freeze by T3 FCU since its launch in 2024. The criminal group allegedly converted large sums of cash into crypto to obscure its origins, but was tracked through blockchain analytics, surveillance, and exchanging KYC records.
Although TRON has historically been known for its low-cost transactions, a spike in TRC-20 USDT fees in late 2024 temporarily made it one of the more expensive networks for stablecoin transfers. To address this, Tether introduced a new “Gas Free” feature that allows users to pay gas fees using USDT instead of TRX. Announced by TRON founder Justin Sun on February 25, the feature is designed to restore TRON’s position as a cost-efficient platform for stablecoin activity.
The TRON Bridge to Bitcoin via Tap Protocol has officially been activated, marking a major milestone in cross-chain connectivity. This integration allows TRON users to seamlessly access the Bitcoin ecosystem while bringing new functionality to Bitcoin through the power of TRON's fast, low-cost transactions.
NFTs & Gaming
Pentagon Games has teamed up with TRON DAO to launch NOVATRON Spaces, an immersive digital experience now in early access, available via the PenXR platform. This interactive world lets users explore the personal space of NOVATRON, the legendary TRON Hero, blending storytelling, gamified adventures, and educational insights into the TRON ecosystem.
Enterprise & RWAs
Tonkeeper Pro, the upgraded version of the popular self-custody Tonkeeper wallet for the TON blockchain, now supports USDT TRC-20 transactions without requiring users to hold TRX for network fees. This is made possible through Tonkeeper Battery, a built-in feature that preloads credits using TON, USDT, or even bank cards via in-app purchases. The Battery automatically covers transaction costs by estimating energy and bandwidth needs, removing one of the major hurdles of Web3 payments on TRON.
CryptoAutos has partnered with TRON DAO to bring TRX payments into its platform, enabling users to purchase luxury, supercars, and exclusive off-market vehicles using the TRON blockchain. This collaboration merges real-world asset ownership with Web3 by integrating fast, scalable, and borderless TRX transactions into the automotive marketplace.
Canary Capital has filed to launch a staked TRX exchange-traded fund (ETF), aiming to hold and stake TRX, the native token of the TRON blockchain, to generate an estimated 4.5% annual yield. This makes Canary’s application one of the first in the U.S. to seek approval for staking as part of its initial ETF filing—unlike other crypto ETFs that have only pursued staking after launch.
ChainAware.ai, a Web3 AI Agent infrastructure provider, has announced it is building on the TRON blockchain, citing TRON’s high throughput and low transaction fees as key advantages for powering its AI-driven solutions. By integrating with TRON, ChainAware aims to scale its offerings more efficiently and cost-effectively, further blending AI and blockchain technologies.
Bubble Maps, a blockchain visualization tool that enhances transparency by mapping token liquidity and wallet connections, has officially integrated the TRON network. This integration provides users with an intuitive way to analyze TRON-based projects, helping identify potential risks, detect unusual activity, and gain deeper insights into token distribution. Through Bubble Maps, TRON continues to promote greater on-chain transparency and equip users with powerful data tools to navigate the ecosystem with confidence.
ZenGo Wallet has integrated TRON and is bringing seamless and secure access to the TRON ecosystem. With ZenGo’s MPC (Multi-Party Computation) security, users can manage TRON-based assets without the need for private keys, reducing the risk of hacks and lost access.
On-chain Data
Daily Transactions
In Q1 2025, TRON’s daily successful transactions rebounded from about 6M in early January to nearly 9 million by late March, following a clear weekly cycle of mid-week peaks and weekend troughs; notable within Q1 was an early-February dip to roughly 5.5M which can be attributed to unfavorable market conditions. This resulted in a small but isolated rise in failed transactions around late February, though failures remained below 1% of total, highlighting the network’s strong stability. Moving into March, the network kept the steady rise, eventually settling around the 8M daily range - a good indicator for the upcoming year.
Daily Active Addresses
TRON’s daily active addresses in Q1 trended upward from roughly 2.2M at the start of January to peaks near 2.7–2.8M in early March, exhibiting the usual weekday/weekend oscillations of about 100–200K. The quarter was marked by a notable early-February trough around 1.8M attributed to market conditions this was followed by a swift rebound and sustained averages above 2.4M through March, underscoring steadily growing user engagement on the network.
Top Entities by Users and Transactions
In Q1, TRON continued cementing its presence as one of the main asset-exchange blockchains currently operating in the industry. Apart from the official Black Hole address, which dominated the chain’s usage, indicating a lot of token interactions (such as minting and burning TRX20 tokens), the rest of the Top 5 is occupied by the industry giants - Binance, Bybit, OKX and KuCoin - all Tier 1 centralized exchanges.
Closing Thoughts
Q1 2025 has reaffirmed TRON’s strength as a fast, low-fee Layer-1 blockchain: daily transactions and active addresses climbed steadily (despite expected weekend dips and a brief February slowdown), reflecting enduring demand for its high-throughput infrastructure. The DAO’s strategic initiatives, welcoming community-elected Super Representatives Kiln and Nansen, deepening liquidity via Wintermute, and launching the $10 million TRON Builders League—reflect a maturing governance model and a clear commitment to long-term innovation By sponsoring ETH Denver’s CUBE Summit and launching PumpSwap with pump.fun, TRON is actively courting developer talent and lowering the barrier of entry for cross-chain DeFii. Coupled with stablecoin optimizations, robust on-chain security, and expansion into NFTs, AI, and real-world payments, the network is well positioned to advance its mission of a decentralized, borderless internet. TRON’s increased mainstream visibility, highlighted by Justin Sun’s Forbes feature and support from figures like World Liberty Financial’s Zach Witkoff further cements its role as a foundational infrastructure for global stablecoin adoption and real-world blockchain integration. With reliable performance and growing community support, TRON enters Q2 poised for broader adoption and fresh ecosystem growth.
