The Tron project is an ambitious undertaking launched in 2017 by a Chinese entrepreneur Justin Sun. It is a decentralized peer-to-peer network that caters to the needs of the entertainment industry. Tron has its own native cryptocurrency called Tron (TRX). This coin is mainly used to pay for the platform’s entertainment content or gain special access to the platform’s resources.
In this Changelly article, we are going to talk about Tronix staking – a way to mine crypto without buying expensive rigs and wasting lots of electricity. We will see if it’s possible to mine TRX in a conventional sense and discuss the difference between PoS and DPoS protocols, as well as the mechanism behind TRX staking.
If you are a Tron holder, this article on Tron (TRX) Price Prediction for 2020-2025 might also interest you.
Table of Contents
Is It Possible to Mine Tron Cryptocurrency?
Tronix is a Delegated Proof-of-Stake coin, meaning that it’s not possible to mine it the same way users mine, for instance, Bitcoin or other altcoins based on Proof-of-Work consensus protocol. DPoS coins are mined by staking. To get a better understanding of the DPoS algorithm, we should first examine how Proof-of-Stake, its mother algorithm, works.
In brief, PoS enables crypto holders to stake coins in exchange for a reward. A user places a certain amount of crypto on their wallet for a certain period of time, taking into consideration that they can’t withdraw the coins, trade them, or send them away.
This way a user’s computer serves as a node. The more crypto there is on the wallet and the longer the period of staking is, the more likely the user gets chosen to validate a block and receives a reward. The validator selection process is based on a combination of different factors (like the wealth and the age of the node) and is semi-random.
Now, back to Tronix. As it is based on the Delegated Proof of Stake protocol, the staking process is a bit less straightforward. Some would even say that it’s not possible to stake TRX, at least not for everyone. Let’s see why.
How to Stake Tron Coins
In the Tron ecosystem, only 27 users do all the staking. They are called super representatives and are voted for by the whole Tron community. There are also super partners – the next 100 users in line for the validator positions. They get rewards according to their voting rate, 1.152.000 TRX in total. Super partners are updated every six hours.
Super representatives are obligated to generate blocks and package transactions for the whole Tron network. They have the right to participate in decision making and voting for Tron parameters proposals. Their reward equals 16 TRX per block (in the Tron blockchain new block is generated every three seconds).
The Tron community – common TRX holders and forward-thinking crypto enthusiasts – vote for candidates by staking their Tronix coins for their favorites. They don’t get rewarded for freezing the assets, their only incentive being direct and active participation in the project’s life.
If you want to get TRX swiftly, you can buy Tron (TRX) with a credit card (Visa or Mastercard), bank transfer, or Apple Pay on Changelly.
More Coins To Stake
There are plenty of coins that use the PoS algorithm, and substantially less of those built on DPoS. Some of the Delegated Proof of Stake cryptocurrencies are the following:
- EOS, a coin based on the EOSIO blockchain, supports DApps and is frequently used as a stake in the EOS ecosystem.
- Lisk is a native coin of the like-named blockchain platform created for app development and distribution.
- Nano is a cryptocurrency famous for instant transfer speed and having no fees for sending or receiving it.
Bottom Line
Generally speaking, it is possible to mine TRX, but the process is entirely different from mining in its conventional sense and involves neither powerful rigs nor a tangible reward. Tron’s DPoS protocol enables only 27 users, or super representatives, to validate transactions and generate blocks. Other members of the Tron community vote for candidates to become super representatives, providing a decentralized democratic way of managing the Tron ecosystem.
