TRON meme culture lags despite ambitions of flipping Pump.fun

Meme culture on TRON lags, despite the new buying frenzy on Ethereum and Solana. TRON tried to grab a piece of the action through Sun Pump, but developers avoided the chain. 

TRON (TRX) lags behind other chains and has failed to attract meme tokens. The Sun Pump launch platform ground to a halt, while Pump.fun was still posting all-time high daily token launches. Despite the speed and activity on TRON, the chain’s users did not go anywhere near the Ethereum and Solana meme culture. 

TRON-based meme tokens are also valued at only $350M, smaller even than newly launched memes on Solana. The TRON platform missed out on PolitiFi and other trends limited to English language social media. TRON tokens tried to be diverse and copy some of the winning models, but the liquidity was already locked on other chains and TRON-based meme tokens were deemed too risky. 

Sun Pump achieved a little more than 90K launches, a small fraction of Pump.fun’s memes. However, Sun Pump briefly flipped Solana’s main platform at the end of August. The platform’s development depended on active promotion from TRON’s founder, Justin Sun. 

Not only are there few launches, but existing tokens are also fizzling out, with no turnover and recoveries. TRON-based meme tokens have also failed to gain the attention of Binance or other large exchange listings.

TRON still bets on meme tokens taking off

TRON has previously adopted multiple trends from crypto space, such as games, NFT, DeFi and others. All of the apps carried Sun’s brand, including some of the meme tokens. This led to skepticism about the organic growth potential of TRON. The ambition for Sun Pump was to become one of the main drivers of adoption for TRON. 

Only SunDog, a heavily promoted token, has achieved a valuation above $100M – a failure in the space where valuations shoot upward within days. Only 10 tokens have valuations above $10M, and most of the remaining assets are inactive or low-value. However, there are some expectations for a return, with SunDog leading the trend. However, the dominance of a few top memes means almost all community-driven tokens are lagging, with little chance of becoming top performers. 

Sun Pump is also straddling a different memetic space than the inspiration for Ethereum and Solana’s tokens. The memes never could compete with the popularity of other meme spaces, but failed to tap enough interest from Chinese users. The direct involvement of Justin Sun in meme promotion also failed to replicate the more organic expansion of other chains. 

One of the reasons for the slowdown in launches is the TRON-based DEX, which only holds $633K in liquidity. Even if meme tokens graduated to trading on the DEX, they would face limited trading opportunities. 

The other constraint comes from the need to use TRON wallets and onboard through owning TRX or TRON-based USDT. Not all meme token traders are able to prepare for Sun Pump’s requirements. TRON bridging is also limited, with $2.4B locked in four of its bridges. This also meant the tokens could not be easily traded on other DEX. 

The SunSwap DEX also lists roughly one new pair per day, a much slower pace compared to other markets. The memes themselves are also not spreading in the same social media space as other projects. In September, after an impressive initial start, new token creations almost ground to a halt, with only a dozen tokens attempting to launch each day. 

TRON achieves peak activity, energy usage

The slow start to meme tokens does not match the otherwise highly active TRON network. Yet most transfers center around Tether (USDT) and TRX, with Sundog the only actively moved meme token. 

The TRON network carries a consistent 2.8M active accounts daily, producing more than $7M in revenues even during less active days. However, TRON users have a different profile and are more interested in moving USDT and trading than in meme culture. TRON also carries institutional or professional-grade transfers, much higher in value compared to betting on cheap meme tokens. 

TRX market prices also recovered in 2024, though still not at their all-time high. TRX hovers around $0.15, expecting potential hikes due to token burns and the overall deflationary trend.