Best TRON Ecosystem Projects for 2024

Top 5 TRON Ecosystem Projects in 2024

The recent rotation of capital towards TRON is evident as it is capturing market share with the launch of the SunPump meme coin generator, directly competing with Solana’s Pump.fun. SunPump has quickly attracted thousands of users, boosting TRON’s network activity.

This momentum, combined with strategic partnerships and strong infrastructure, strengthens TRON's position as a premier hub for emerging projects. 2024 begins to feel like the early days of crypto, with multiple chains fiercely competing to dethrone Ethereum as the top Layer 1. TRON is the most recent contender in the race, thanks to its new narratives.

‍

1. JustLend DAO

JustLend DAO, the first decentralized lending protocol on TRON, supports 19 decentralized token markets and provides borrowing, lending, and staking services. Launched in 2020, it uses algorithmically determined interest rates based on real-time supply and demand, with APY rates ranging from 3.87% for TRX to 6.93% for SUN.

The platform currently holds over $6.41 billion in total supply and $101.15 million in total borrow, distributing more than $40,000 in mining rewards daily. JustLend DAO’s integration with the broader JUST ecosystem, including JustStable for USDJ stablecoin management and Just Cryptos for cross-chain asset transfers.

‍

2. SunSwap

SunSwap, TRON’s decentralized exchange, utilizes an advanced AMM model for efficient token swaps and liquidity management. By 2024, SunSwap’s TVL had surpassed $527 million, solidifying its status as a key player in TRON’s ecosystem for decentralized finance and meme coins trading.

The introduction of SunSwap V3 brought a concentrated liquidity model, boosting capital efficiency by allowing users to customize their liquidity pools with specific price ranges and fee tiers—from as low as 0.01% for stablecoins to 1% for highly volatile tokens. This upgrade has made SunSwap more attractive to liquidity providers and traders alike.

‍

3. Tether (USDT)

Tether (USDT) remains the most widely used stablecoin, providing stability by being pegged to the US dollar. Over the past year, Tether has expanded its presence on the TRON network, minting 19 billion USDT tokens out of a total issuance of $33 billion across multiple blockchains. On TRON, the stablecoin is available as TRC-20 USDT.

This growth highlights TRON's increasing influence in the stablecoin market, where it now handles 37.9% of all stablecoin transactions. TRON’s appeal for USDT transactions lies in its low fees and fast processing speeds, making it a preferred network for high-volume stablecoin transfers.

‍

4. SunPump

SunPump, TRON’s meme coin token generator, simplifies the creation and trading of meme coins with a 1% trading fee and a 20 TRX token creation fee. Since its launch in August 2024, SunPump has quickly become a central for meme coin traders, generating $70,605 in daily revenue and facilitating the creation of over 6,000 meme coins within its first 11 days.

The platform’s innovative liquidity and burn mechanism, which adds approximately $12,000 worth of TRX to liquidity pools on SunSwap V2 and subsequently burns it, has enhanced the value of the tokens launched, making SunPump an attractive choice for both creators and investors in the meme coin space.

‍

5. SUNDOG

SUNDOG, TRON’s flagship meme coin, launched in August 2024 as part of the network’s strategic expansion into the memes sector. The token rapidly gained popularity, with its market cap rising to $251 million and a daily trading volume of $56 million. This ranks the token as the 16th largest meme coin right now.

Listed on major exchanges like Gate.io, HTX, MEXC, and Bitget, SUNDOG’s success is fueled by TRON’s aggressive marketing efforts and a $10 million boost from the Meme Ecosystem Incentive Program. With over 17,700 holders, Sundog has firmly established itself as a leading meme coin on TRON, benefiting from the L1's high transaction speeds and minimal fees.

‍

How Big is the TRON Ecosystem?

TRON's TVL is reported at $8.833 billion according to DefiLlama, though TRON's blockchain explorer suggests the actual figure could exceed $24 billion when including projects like TRX Staking Governance and Just Cryptos, which are not accounted for in DefiLlama's calculations.

The network supports over 253 million unique addresses across 34 protocols. TRON’s DEX volume represents 6.21% of the total DeFi market, with a 24-hour trading volume of $237.89 million, despite not having a major perpetual exchange.

Top projects include JustLend DAO with $6.345 billion in TVL, and JustStables with $1.669 billion, demonstrating TRON’s dominance in lending and stablecoins. Additionally, TRON manages $59 billion in stablecoins, with 98.24% of that in USDT, or 49.7% of USDT’s total circulating supply.

‍

Is TRON Better Than Ethereum?

When evaluating whether TRON is better than Ethereum, particularly through the lens of TRC-20 versus ERC-20 tokens, the differences emerge in cost and compatibility. TRC-20 tokens operate on the TRON Virtual Machine (TVM) and use TRX for gas fees, often resulting in zero transaction costs when utilizing staked TRX, which contrasts with the variable and sometimes high fees associated with ERC-20 tokens.

TRC-20 tokens, however, have more limited wallet compatibility, working only with wallets that support the TRON network, while ERC-20 tokens are compatible with a broader range of wallets, including Metamask and Trust Wallet. Additionally, TRC-20 token addresses differ structurally, starting with "T" and having 34 characters, compared to ERC-20 tokens which start with "0x" and have 42 characters.

‍

Bottom Line

The top 5 TRON projects in 2024 are JustLend DAO, SunSwap, Tether, SunPump, and Sundog. TRON’s ecosystem currently holds over $24 billion in TVL, with 253 million total accounts and 8.3 billion transactions. The surge in interest is driven by the success of meme coin launchpads like SunPump and the active online presence of founder Justin Sun.

According to Sun, TRON plans to lower blockchain fees and raise the energy cap, potentially increasing daily transactions to over 20 million and boosting revenue. The founder expects TRON to generate $3 to $4 billion in revenue over the next year.