TRON 99.9% more efficient than Bitcoin, Ethereum, report says

The TRON blockchain is more energy efficient than Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to a report by the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI). Compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum, the blockchain requires 99.9 percent less energy.

Annually, TRON consumes 162,868 kWh to conduct 2.31 billion transactions, or “equal to the energy consumption of 15 average U.S. households." Meanwhile, Bitcoin and Ethereum use 83 million kWh and 22 million kWh per year, respectively.

The CCRI studied 20 networks within TRON to track their power consumption. The data also included the blockchain’s overall ecological damage and sustainability. The study was funded by the TRON Foundation, the organization behind the TRON blockchain.

According to TRON founder Justin Sun the issue of blockchains in the modern era is their growing energy consumption, which is “not sustainable in the long term for either consumers or economies at scale." Sun added that the most effective blockchains “encourage decentralization while minimizing their environmental impact."

Concerns about the environmental damage caused by crypto blockchains are prevalent. For example, Tesla no longer accepts Bitcoin as a payment method, citing “environmental concerns."

DPoS over PoW

TRON attributed their lower energy consumption to their proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism. The mechanism relies on users who stake TRON’s native token, TRX, to validate transactions and keep the network running.

Other crypto networks like Polkadot, Cardano, and Solana also utilize DPoS. Polkadot reportedly has the lowest carbon footprint among the three.

On the other hand, Bitcoin and Ethereum run on a proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism. Users need a hardware device to validate transactions in the network because the process involves solving complex algorithms, such as Bitcoin with its SHA-256 hashing function and Ethereum with its Keccak-256. The powerful hardware device demands a significant amount of power supply for operation, maintenance, and cooling.

Recently, Ethereum announced plans to switch to the DPoS mechanism in the middle of September in a phase called “The Merge." The blockchain reportedly had planned this upgrade for a few years. This change reportedly will not only lower the blockchain’s energy consumption but also change its “tokenism."

Despite the benefits of DPoS to the environment, the CCRI said there are other factors to consider when using them, such as “decentralization, network throughput. and functionality."

About TRON

TRON was established in September 2017 by Sun but went public in May of the following year. It acquired BitTorrent and added the pioneer decentralized service to its ecosystem in July 2018.

On Ethereum, TRX managed to surpass Tether’s USDT in April 2021. Then, the network went fully decentralized at the end of last year.

The blockchain is run by TRON Virtual Machine (TVM). According to the developers, this machine enables TRON to be stable, secure, and scalable. To run its DPoS system, TRON selects super representatives (SRs) or validators. Every six hours, TRON will pick a new SR, and the person will receive a TRX coin for their service.

TRON’s smart contracts are developed using Solidity and several other advanced languages. Users can deploy and execute the contracts within the blockchain, allowing developers to create various utility applications within the system.

The blockchain also accommodates tokens such as USDT, USDC, BTT, and NFTs. The values of the other coins are determined relative to TRX.