Tron Reduces Fees, Loses Position in USDT Market
Date: 2025-09-16 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BUSINESS
The revenues of the Tron blockchain network, created by Justin Sun, have fallen to a yearly low, mainly due to a nearly halving of fees. Since the beginning of September, weekly revenues have amounted to about $9 million, while for most of 2025 they remained within the range of $12-14 million. Such figures were last recorded in 2023-2024, according to Defillama data.
The reason for the decline was the update "#789", implemented on August 29. It reduced transaction costs: the average fee is now about $0.8 versus almost $1.6 previously. Despite the decline, Tron still remains one of the most profitable networks. For comparison, Ethereum's weekly revenue is in the range of $3-4 million, Solana's is about $1 million, and BNB Chain is limited to $0.3 million.
The TRX token, however, is showing steady growth. According to Coinmarketcap, its capitalization on September 15 was $32.6 billion, and its value was $0.345. This put it in 11th place among the fastest-growing cryptocurrencies of 2025, with a result of +35% since the beginning of the year.
Tron has long competed with Bitcoin in terms of the cost of transactions. Even after the update, the average transfer fee is $0.8, while in Ethereum it is closer to $0.5, in BNB Chain it is below $0.05, and in Solana it does not exceed $0.005, according to TokenTerminal. Justin Sun himself stated in X that the short-term profitability of the network will decrease due to a 60% drop in fees, but growth is expected in the future due to an increase in the number of users.
The USDT stablecoin occupies a special place in the Tron ecosystem. According to Tronscan, about 40% of all network transactions are related to it. There are $82 billion of TRC20 USDT in circulation, which is 42% of the total supply of the stablecoin.
However, in recent years, Tron's position in this segment has weakened. If in 2021-2023 it accounted for about 60% of USDT transactions, now the leadership has passed to BNB Chain, which accounts for 48% of transactions against 36% for Tron, according to Visa. The picture is similar in terms of transfer volume: Tron's share has decreased from 50% to 34%, and Ethereum took first place with almost 40%.
Before the update, the commission for transferring USDT in the Tron network exceeded $4.8. After optimization, the figure decreased by about 20% and amounted to about $4.2. For comparison, the cost of a transfer in Ethereum is $0.027, in BNB Chain - $0.0026, and in Solana less than $0.002. It is noteworthy that until mid-2023, the commission in Tron rarely exceeded $1.
Thus, the situation is ambiguous: Tron remains a project with high capitalization and one of the best incomes on the market, while the TRX token shows dynamic growth. But at the same time, the network is losing share in a key area - transactions with USDT, which may affect its long-term positions.
