Despite its early dominance by Tether (USDT) activity, the Tron network has been expanding its reach, diversifying its on-chain operations to include decentralized trading and meme coin creation. The crypto analytics platform, CryptoQuant, recently shared these insights in a detailed review, highlighting the network’s evolution and growth in 2024.
In the past, the Tron network has been a major player in USDT transactions, with the stablecoin accounting for between 95% and 99% of total transfers on the network daily. However, 2024 saw a significant growth in this sector, with the total supply of USDT on Tron increasing from $48 billion to $62 billion. Moreover, the value of transfers rose from $362 billion in December 2023 to a staggering $576 billion in December 2024. In the same period, the number of monthly transfers also increased from 55 million to 62 million.
According to CryptoQuant, one key milestone achieved by Tron in 2024 was the freezing of over $100 million in criminal assets globally, a feat accomplished in collaboration with Tether and TRM Labs. This move was part of the network’s proactive efforts to combat cryptocurrency-related financial crime.
While USDT transactions were surging, Tron was also seeing a spike in decentralized finance (DeFi) activity. With the launch of various applications like SunSwap, a decentralized exchange that allows users to swap TRC-20 tokens sans intermediaries, and SunPump, a meme coin launchpad, Tron was able to foster substantial growth in the DeFi space.
These applications not only attracted new users to the network but also drove economic activity. By August 2024, SunSwap was recording four million monthly transactions, while SunPump was facilitating the creation and trading of a staggering number of meme coins. From its launch till August 2024, SunPump saw the creation of 7,500 daily tokens, and by December, this number had spiked to 94,000.
The increase in the creation of meme coins via SunPump has, according to CryptoQuant, “amplified speculative activity and user engagement, showcasing the growing demand for creative and community-driven token projects.”
In addition to these developments, 2024 also saw the rise of other tokens on the Tron network, particularly WTRX. This wrapped version of Tron’s native asset, TRX, accounted for 80% of all swaps on SunSwap throughout 2024, with its swap volume growing from $0.5 billion to $4.1 billion.
This overall surge in network activity led to an increase in Tron’s monthly network fees, which rose from $102 million at the end of 2023 to $236 million in December 2024. As the Tron network continues to evolve and diversify, it appears well-positioned to maintain its growth trajectory in the crypto space.
