The stablecoin landscape is shifting. In June 2025, the Trump family-backed USD1 stablecoin launched on the TRON network, introducing a potential challenger to the long-standing dominance of USDT and USDC. This move triggered widespread market discussion about whether a new "third pole" in global stablecoins is emerging.
A recent industry roundtable explored whether USD1 has the potential to break the current duopoly and if the TRON network possesses the necessary technical and ecological capacity to support a stablecoin of this magnitude. Experts examined its technical capabilities, asset model, compliance standing, and capital pathways.
The Current Stablecoin Market: A Duopoly Facing Challenges
The global stablecoin market is currently dominated by USDT and USDC, which together command nearly 90% of the market share. However, industry analysts point to significant structural bottlenecks facing both giants, creating an opening for new entrants.
Limitations of USDT and USDC
A key challenge for existing stablecoins is the evolving global regulatory landscape. The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, for instance, mandates strict licensing and reserve requirements for issuers. This has already led to some exchanges delisting certain stablecoin trading pairs within Europe.
Furthermore, persistent concerns over the transparency of reserves, particularly for USDT, continue to pose a risk. While issuers claim a 1:1 peg, the actual backing can fluctuate with market demand, sometimes deviating from initial commitments.
On the other hand, while USDC is praised for its full reserve transparency—backed by U.S. Treasury bonds and cash—this also creates an over-reliance on the traditional U.S. financial system, exposing it to centralized policy risks.
The Rising Demand for a Third Major Player
Market demand is growing for stablecoins that can operate outside the traditional duopoly. This demand is driven by a need for greater regulatory adaptability, sustainable profitability models, and product innovation—areas where the incumbents have shown limitations.
The future may not belong to just one or two stablecoins. The trend aligns with global financial decentralization, pointing toward a more diverse, multi-layered ecosystem of stablecoins serving different needs and jurisdictions.
The Core Competitiveness of USD1: Political Backing and Flexibility
USD1 enters the market with distinct advantages, primarily its political endorsement and operational flexibility. Its multi-chain deployment strategy and adaptable issuance mechanism allow it to serve a wide range of use cases.
A major point of differentiation is its approach to sovereignty. USD1 utilizes a "decentralized governance committee" model, which aims to provide a degree of censorship resistance not entirely subject to the regulations of a single nation. This makes it an attractive option for users prioritizing transaction freedom.
However, it’s noted that USD1’s reserve assets still largely rely on the U.S. debt system, meaning it isn’t completely detached from the existing framework of dollar hegemony. For users seeking the highest level of fiat currency stability, USDC may still hold an advantage due to its strong compliance focus.
For cross-border financial ecosystems and transnational business, USD1’s blend of political resources and attempt to balance regulatory pressures offers a compelling alternative. Its design aims for stronger sovereign independence and broader global applicability than many existing options.
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How TRON’s Ecosystem Empowers USD1
The alliance between USD1 and the TRON network is a strategic move. TRON provides a powerful technological foundation and a thriving ecosystem that can help USD1 break into the market.
Key Advantages of the TRON Network for USD1
1. Dominance in High-Frequency Payment Scenarios
TRON’s high throughput (2500+ TPS), extremely low transaction costs, and rich application ecosystem give USD1 a significant edge in B2B settlements, cross-border payments, and micro-transactions. This attracts retail users and small-to-medium enterprises, building strong user loyalty.
2. Advanced Regulatory Adaptability
TRON has implemented sophisticated compliance technology, such as the Bubblemaps V2 traceability system. This system anonymizes wallet addresses while storing necessary regulatory metadata in a separate compliance layer. This "visual anonymity" approach meets standards set by both the EU’s GDPR and the FATF, earning recognition from the European Union Blockchain Observatory.
From an infrastructure perspective, the TRON network acts as a "financial highway." Its energy mechanism reduces transfer costs to nearly zero while maintaining high concurrency, allowing users to seamlessly enter various usage scenarios. This payment efficiency, comparable to traditional networks like Visa, creates a strong moat for applications in remittances and merchant settlements.
A Thriving Ecosystem for Stablecoin Innovation
TRON’s position as a leading blockchain for stablecoins isn't accidental. It's the result of a deliberate "low-cost + high-efficiency" technical architecture combined with rapid DeFi ecosystem expansion.
The network has built a comprehensive and closed-loop financial ecosystem:
- Cross-Chain Protocol: BitTorrent protocol for interoperability.
- Lending: Platforms like JustLend.
- Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs): Mainstream platforms like SunSwap and stablecoin-focused exchanges like SunCurve.
- NFT Marketplace: APENFT.
- Meme Sector: Initiatives like SunPump.
This diverse application matrix means TRON has moved beyond being a simple transaction channel. It has built the world’s most mature stablecoin financial scene, upgrading stablecoins from mere trading tools to a integrated system for earning, paying, and managing assets—a true financial operating system.
Furthermore, TRON has secured financial licenses in key jurisdictions like the UAE, EU, and Singapore, clearing a path for compliant global expansion.
A Diversified Stablecoin System: USD1, USDD, and USDT
With the integration of USD1, TRON now hosts a multi-layered stablecoin ecosystem with a total circulation nearing $80 billion, placing it among the top public chains globally. This includes:
- USDT: Continues to serve as a primary payment channel.
- USDD: TRON's native algorithmic stablecoin, catering to the high-yield demand within DeFi.
- USD1: Positioned to serve compliant, institutionally-focused scenarios.
This structure acts as a diversified 'stablecoin supermarket.' Each coin serves a distinct purpose, and they can share liquidity pools, enabling efficient capital flow between them.
The synergy between USD1 and USDD is particularly notable. They form a "regulation-decentralization" dual-track system. USD1’s strong audit characteristics attract institutional capital, while USDD’s algorithmic flexibility appeals to crypto-native users seeking censorship resistance.
Together with TRX Vault, these assets create a powerful synergy. They enable a complete closed-loop for capital: a compliant on-ramp (USD1), efficient on-chain circulation and yield generation (USDD, DeFi apps), and a secure store of value.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main advantage of USD1 over USDC?
USD1 aims to offer greater sovereign independence through its decentralized governance model, reducing reliance on the policy of any single country. This makes it potentially more censorship-resistant and suitable for diverse cross-border settlements, whereas USDC is deeply integrated with the highly compliant but centralized U.S. financial system.
Why did USD1 choose to launch on the TRON network?
TRON offers a unique combination of high transaction speed (2500+ TPS), extremely low fees, and a mature DeFi ecosystem perfect for payments and settlements. Furthermore, TRON’s advanced compliance technology helps USD1 navigate complex international regulations, making it an ideal launchpad for global expansion.
Can TRON support multiple large stablecoins like USDT, USDD, and USD1?
Yes, TRON's technical architecture is designed for high throughput and low cost, allowing it to efficiently handle transactions for multiple stablecoins simultaneously. Its diverse DeFi ecosystem also provides ample use cases and liquidity pools for these assets to coexist and synergize.
Is USD1 a fully decentralized stablecoin?
No, USD1 is not fully decentralized. It is a fiat-collateralized stablecoin, meaning it is backed by real-world assets like cash and bonds. Its innovation lies in its governance model, which uses a committee structure to aim for more operational independence than traditional centrally-issued stablecoins.
What are the biggest risks for USD1?
The primary risks include its ongoing dependency on the U.S. debt system for reserves and the challenge of maintaining a balance between political endorsement, transparency, and regulatory compliance across different global jurisdictions.
How does TRON's compliance technology work?
TRON uses systems like Bubblemaps V2, which create a compliance metadata layer. This allows for necessary regulatory information to be stored for oversight while keeping wallet addresses anonymized on the public chain, balancing privacy with regulatory requirements.
Conclusion: Reshaping the Future of Digital Finance
The collaboration between USD1 and TRON represents a significant experiment at the intersection of technology and political capital. It is actively reshaping the stablecoin power structure.
As highlighted in the roundtable consensus, TRON is not just building a "stablecoin supermarket" but is fostering an unprecedented "species diversity" in digital finance. USD1 serves as a compliant bridge to the traditional financial world, USDD acts as the engine for DeFi innovation, and TRX Vault lubricates global capital flow.
The ultimate mission of this alliance is to break through the limitations of a single-currency competition. If USD1 can successfully balance political empowerment with transparency and compliance, empowered by TRON’s robust architecture and vast ecosystem, it could help propel blockchain technology from a niche trading tool to a foundational global financial operating system for the next decade.