Tron (TRX) founder and CEO, Justin Sun, delved deeper into his views on the future of blockchain in a recent media interview, refuting ‘Dr. Doom’ Nouriel Roubini’s recent gloomy prognostication in the process.
Roubini, an economist at New York’s Stern School of Business, recently labelled the entire cryptocurrency space ‘the mother of all scams’. While Roubini’s comments at the Senate Banking Committee made news headlines, they also made most crypto enthusiasts cringe.
One of the crypto community’s most enthusiastic advocates, Justin Sun’s one million Facebook followers and near half-million Twitter followers since last year suggest there’s plenty of people who share his optimism. Sun stated in relation to Roubini:
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. In the case of Nouriel Roubini, I would have to say I do not agree. New things are almost always met with doubt and rejection by some. Very soon, reality will speak louder than words, and blockchain will be the new normal. It’s inevitable.”
Inevitability of Blockchain
Sun’s prediction that blockchain will be the new normal is one that most in the space would share, but what does it say about cryptocurrency?
After all, blockchain and cryptocurrency are two different things. Blockchain has many notable characteristics – such as being permissionless, trustless and immutable – which make it suited to ‘hosting’ a currency. However there is no reason to believe the two will be joined at the hip forever.
Continuing on from the previous point, Sun once again talks about blockchain as an inevitable future technology:
“Blockchain will be the cornerstone to revolutionizing the production chain, creating a much friendlier environment for global economic growth.”
Once again the focus is on blockchain, which should be no surprise given the Tron project’s aim of building a media and gaming hub on blockchain technology. However, perhaps this illustrates a changing of the times.
As noted cryptocurrency expert and enthusiast Andreas Antonopoulos has said in relation to the blockchain versus cryptocurrency debate:
“…if what you’re doing is a database with signatures, it is not interesting. It is boring.”
The carrot which was originally dangled in front of crypto enthusiasts took the form of a potential disruptor of the established economic and technological order.
Now, ten years on from Bitcoin’s inception, the buzzwords have changed from the cryptographic, to that of the business and supply chain lexicon.
Sun on Bitcoin, Ethereum…
The Tron founder still values the original cryptocurrency, stating:
“It was the gateway for many into the world of blockchain technology and showcases its potential extremely well.”
However, it’s clear from Sun’s referring to Bitcoin as a ‘gateway’ that he envisions something better to emerge in the future.
Sun was also complementary about the project he hopes to displace, noting that Ethereum (ETH) was the first blockchain to introduce applications, but also that TRX transactions are now beginning to outpace those of Ethereum:
“TRON’s one day trade volume has surpassed Ethereum’s for the past few days in a row. This is a testament to the fact that TRON’s network activity is steadily increasing.”
