Rinzler's Blog # 8: #ActivateTron

It’s been 7 months since Tron’s ICO for their utility token, ‘trx’, or ‘Tronix’, and the development team at Tron Labs has been busy building what will soon be their first proof of an actual product.

March 31st is Saturday, and Tron proponents and opponents will be watching and awaiting the results of the Testnet launch, or ‘Exodus’ milestone in the Tron development schedule. Social media has been on fire with increasingly frequent shout-outs from fans and critics alike. The new official moniker for Tron supporters?

Tronics

I admit, I like the name. I imagine chronic consumers of Tron Tonic, a bright, glowing bluish liquid that rejuvenates ones vitality. There would be small groups of us in public, always on a mission. Normal people might see us and comment to one another. “What’s with those people?” “Ah. They’re Tronics. They’re hooked on that new drug, you know, from China? Trx or something.”

Ok, maybe not like that.

What I’d love to see is the new mascot, which in the latest Tron Labs Weekly Update was mentioned as being announced on the official Tron Foundation Twitter page, but no such tweet could be found. (Am I missing it readers?) The final 8 contest entries that were available to vote on were tweeted here (Why not Rinzler?! To hell with copyright violation!)

Justin Sun and the development team are holding a Periscope livestream the day of the Testnet launch as tweeted by Sun and Tron:

The hashtag #ActivateTron has been rampant on Twitter as fans and investors get amped up for this Saturday. I expect to see a continued, increased FOMO effect across social media and concurrently, exchanges over what really shouldn’t be any cause for a moonshot.

Similar to the planned coinburn, which in some elite Tronic circles has become akin to a bad word.

I was definitely excited when I heard Tron was planning a burn. Then Sun made it official on a live broadcast that it would be an xrp style, per-transaction burn which won’t have noticeable positive effects on value. I DO see this having a noticeable impact however, if, (as I mentioned in my recent post,) Tron fits itself into the new “Internet of Things” that massive giants like Alibaba and the Chinese government will pioneer. Have you seen the ecommerce transaction #’s for 2017 in China? Over $20 trillion. Yes, these are longer-term aspirations, but soon Tron will have a platform to “Decentralize The Internet – As It Was.”

Other Tron-Related News This Week

Alibaba. Whenever there is any blockchain-related news with Alibaba, Tronics tune in and pay attention. An article this week at CryptoCoinsNews contained statements from Jing Xiandong, Ant Financial’s (owned by Alibaba) Chief Executive saying:

“So far, we are the world’s most patented company of blockchain technology. But I don’t think we [will] have anything to do with ICO,”

Indeed, Alibaba tops the list for blockchain patents in China. He goes on to detail challenges in building a sustainable blockchain future, but says that when the smoke settles the real value of blockchain will become apparent.

“The core of the blockchain lies in using technology to create a multi-party trust mechanism. Imagine if the participating parties trust the figures and objects if the world is fully digitalized. The authenticity of assets is a great challenge. In this sense, the blockchain has a very positive significance and is a cornerstone of the trust of the digital society in the future.”

The takeaway from this is that it would appear that Alibaba isn’t going to pursue its own digital asset in an ICO, but didn’t rule out a utility provided by a possible third party.

Binance (and Alibaba?) In Malta

This week several articles were published on Binance’s recently announced, upcoming move to Malta. The exchange was recently issued a warning from the Japanese Securities and Futures Commission saying that they were not in compliance as an exchange who they consider to be trading digital assets defined as securities under Hong Kong law.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known in crypto as “CZ”, (find him on twitter here) said that he plans on moving their resources and location to Malta to open a fiat-to-crypto exchange. An article from CryptoCoinsNews reads:

Silvio Schembri, Malta’s Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy & Innovation, stated in an interview with the Binance team that the country remains confident in the work that is being done in the cryptocurrency sector. He further emphasized that Binance’s presence in the region would continue to allow Malta to evolve into the Blockchain Island.

A fiat-to-crypto Binance, listing the Tronix coin to fiat would do amazing things for the trade volume of trx. (One can hope?)

I mention Alibaba as they too have expressed interest in the blockchain-friendly attitude of the small nation now becoming known as “Blockchain Island". An article from independent.com revealed:

Chairman of Malta Gaming Authority Joseph Cuschieri, said that he was delighted that Alibaba Group had chosen to participate in Malta's technological development. "With their cutting-edge data technologies, advanced cloud platforms, big data solutions and artificial intelligence capabilities, they will surely add value to Malta's ecosystem which will be beneficial to the gaming industry but also the whole digital economy.
General Manager of Alibaba Cloud International, Yeming Wang, said that Alibaba sees Malta's industry as very unique as the Government is open for business and ready to embrace new innovation. "Alibaba wants to be in Malta to contribute with its technology platform together with the economy's innovative perception."

Speculative, yes, however the pieces appear to be falling into place for Justin Sun and his impeccable team at Tron Labs quite nicely, and Justin himself is optimistic about Binance’s move, and is contemplating a possible future location for Tron:

Coinbase

Coinbase has said that they will soon offer ERC20 token support, which some have incorrectly said will be great for Tron, as by the time Coinbase makes this change, trx will most likely be its own coin, and no longer under the umbrella of ERC20. Because of this, it will probably not apply to trx like some are hoping.

Exodus

Will Justin Sun and the brilliant minds at Tron Labs deliver on their Exodus? What will we all see this Saturday the 31st? Stay tuned and as they’ve said, “be there or be square.”

I don’t plan on being square, but another shape comes to mind…