Cryptocurrency
An Inside Look at TRON (TRX) Founder Justin Sun
TRON (TRX)–Adapted from his recent interview with Tron.Live, here are a few insights from Xu Le (CEO of Game.com, a major partner of TRX) into the tireless, and at times controversial founder of Tron, Justin Sun.
Overcoming TRON Skeptics
Le admits that when he first looked into Tron, predating the partnership with Game.com, he was skeptical of both the project and its outspoken founder, “When Justin introduced Tron in China, I’ve actually seen his whitepaper. That time, I’m quite ignorant and thinking that isn’t this just imagining things out of thin air? I couldn’t see how these pieces will come together.” Le’s initial impression of Tron is in line with the criticism many have towards Justin Sun and the TRX white paper: an outspoken founder who has made bold claims that seem too large to fill. The white paper, in particular, has drawn controversy in its English translation with claims of plagiarism.
It’s worth remembering that Tron is in its nascent form, having only come online since August 2017. The white paper could be a rushed effort, it could be a limitation of proper translation to Western business, or it could be the source of evolution. Tron and Justin Sun have made big claims. But so has every cryptocurrency. The goal of Bitcoin is to create a currency as ubiquitous as government fiat that it could be a replacement. There are many advantages to Bitcoin: decentralization, security, deflation, etc. that have drawn excitement to the tune of a 200 billion USD market capitalization. But if you asked any politician or Wall Street banker if Bitcoin can replace US dollars (insert your country of choice here), you would get a resounding no.
That doesn’t make Bitcoin any less compelling.
If anything, the loftier the goal and expectation, the greater the excitement created. Justin Sun has a similar sentiment with Tron. For every naysayer and reputation-smearer TRX has, there is another investor motivated to support the project. So while the current manifestation of Tron may be out of proportion with realized expectations, that could all change within the next six months. Xu Le is willing to give Justin Sun the benefit of the doubt, content with the idea that he doesn’t have to understand the broader picture of Tron or have a definitive road map. Instead, he is interested in investing in a partner he finds to be highly motivated and potentially visionary: i.e. Justin Sun.
Impressed by Justin Sun’s Determination
When asked about his initial impression of Justin Sun, Le gave this response, “After [the China Ban], an ordinary person just won’t know the pressure that Justin has gone through. Despite this, Justin was able to revitalize Tron in a global market and in such a large scale, getting Tronix listed on so many exchanges, doing a lot of PR, and so on. So, no matter how Tron will perform in the future, what we are seeing today is how determined a person can be and how one is able to cope with such a tremendous pressure and do it well.”
Tron presents a bit of an anomaly in the world of cryptocurrency. Many investors and enthusiasts are spurred by the idea of decentralization–the lack of any singular or collective controlling authority. Many people think the technology should speak for itself. This camp finds Tron an enterprising project, but one muddled by the peddling of its founder. However, this concept of crypto-backers wanting a lack of authority is unfounded in the history of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin benefited tremendously from the input and direction of Satoshi Nakamoto, so much that he has developed cult status in both the cryptosphere and general public in solving the mystery of his identity. People treat Satoshi’s vision for Bitcoin with the same dogma and reverence they would the U.S. constitution, which has led to a heated debate and division over hard forks. Bitcoin Cash is held entirely in the vice grip of a handful of players, the most vocal of which is Roger Ver. Ver has become the primary arbiter for the promotion and continuance of Bitcoin Cash, an occurrence few BCH holders seem to mind–even going so far as to promote Ver’s heavy-handed antics. Litecoin has also suffered the withdrawal of Charlie Lee’s dramatic exit from Litecoin, leaving many LTC fans reeling in the aftermath.
Cryptocurrency does not have to be beholden to a central player, but it’s hard to deny the market craves a figurehead for news, direction and assurance for the coins they are investing in. Many projects in the space have suffered, at least in terms of monetary capitalization, from the lack of a consistent place to feel “the pulse” of what’s going on with the currency. Even the top 100 of market capitalization is littered with coins that may or may not be dead in the water–it’s hard to tell without an authority figure to gauge upon.
Think of cryptocurrency investing like angel investing: each coin presents an interesting, potentially novel technology that is attempting to solve a problem. You should research the tech, the problem, and the potential wealth that could be generated, but you should also be looking at the team. Justin Sun has the credentials. He has proven to be a determined and tireless advocate for his currency. He has built an impressive number of partnerships for a company that has only been in operation for less than six months. You can bet, even with the price of TRX plummeting, that this will not be the end of Justin Sun’s commitment to growing his product. If there is any reason to be bullish on the price of TRX it’s this: Sun will almost certainly find a way to bring the price of TRX back to its previous ATH, which constitutes a gain of over 300%.
Ability to Grow TRONIX
At one point in the interview, Le is asked candidly his opinion of Justin Sun. His response tells volumes on the future of Tron and the value of Tron partnerships, “When a person is able scale something from scratch to a global large scale, we can gauge one’s ability form this. Tron went from a market cap of $2 billion to an all time high of $16 billion market cap after partnering with us…What we should focus on is this young man’s determination, endurance, and execution of tasks under pressure.” Le comments upon the plunging market capitalization and price of TRX but also contends the point with the overall dip in the crypto marketplace. Instead, as he says, it’s more important to look past the fluctuations in TRX valuation and instead focus on what Justin Sun was able to accomplish: scaling a company from the ground floor to 10 billion+ in five months. Now we realize: it’s crypto. Billion dollar valuations are a dime a dozen, and market capitalization has less meaning when compared to the traditional stock market. But, the sudden rise of Tron proves two things: Justin Sun can drum up enough excitement to draw significant media attention and investor dollars, and there is now a nucleus of followers with a significant stake in seeing Tron flourish. Both bode well for Tron’s long-term price and ability to bounce back from the recent drop.
TRON in 2018
Here’s what you should do if you are a current investor of TRX or waiting on the sideline to buy in at the low price: read Xu Le’s take on Justin Sun and that of other CEOs Tron is partnering with. Ignore the negative press and FUD campaign and instead focus on the broader picture Sun has for Tron and what TRX’s valuation could be a month, a year, three years from now. Cryptocurrency has created a horde of myopic traders and enthusiasts. It’s like watching people stuck in traffic. They jump from one lane to the next, hoping to speed ahead. Practice patience. Start studying the market, the technology and what the team behind each company brings. TRX is under a hellstorm of bad publicity, most of which is through no fault of Sun or the Tron project. TRX created an overwhelming amount of jealousy in its meteoric rise to the top ten of market capitalization. It then created an equal amount of animosity in investors spurned by the sudden drop. But the vitriol is largely undeserved. Sun, in his short stint in the spotlight, has proven to be a special founder, not all that dissimilar from a Steve Jobs. He aims big with his project, but he also expects big to occur. So while you can ridicule Tron for its most recent drop in price, you can’t rule out that Justin Sun is exactly the type of founder to steer his project back into the green and to new highs.