Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
On July 24, Eastern Time, the crypto world will witness a landmark moment: Tron Inc. (NASDAQ:TRON) will ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq exchange in New York's Times Square. This reverse merger into the mainstream capital market not only marks Tron's official entry into the American financial arena but also dramatically places its global advisor, Justin Sun, at the core stage of Wall Street.
Three years ago, Justin Sun was nearly shut out of the U.S. market due to an SEC lawsuit. Now, he returns to New York as the Nasdaq bell ringer. This "breaking the wall" action between the crypto circle and traditional finance not only announces Tron's critical leap into mainstream acceptance but also reflects a turning point in the gradual infiltration of crypto assets into the traditional system. For Justin Sun, the sound of the bell in Times Square will undoubtedly become a metaphorical footnote in his career as a disruptor—when the hammer falls, it signals not just the start of the trading day but also the battle cry of crypto forces against the stronghold of traditional finance.
Background Review: Reverse Merger and Transaction Details
News about TRON's reverse merger first emerged on June 16. At that time, several media outlets, including the Financial Times, reported that TRON planned to achieve indirect listing through a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed SRM Entertainment, with the transaction managed by Dominari Securities, an investment bank linked to the Trump family.
It was disclosed that SRM Entertainment signed a $100 million equity financing agreement with a private investor, intending to issue 100,000 shares of Class B convertible preferred stock (conversion price of $0.50 per share, corresponding to 200 million shares of common stock) and 220 million warrants (exercise price of $0.50 per share). If fully exercised, the total transaction size could reach $210 million, representing an increase of over 23 times compared to the 17.24 million shares circulating before the SRM transaction.
According to SEC filings, the leader of this financing was Justin Sun's father, Sun Weike, who injected TRX assets through a PIPE model, gaining control of SRM and becoming the chairman of the board after the transaction's completion. All original SRM board members were replaced, and the core management team of Tron entered key committees such as audit, compensation, and nomination.
Although Tron DAO did not directly participate in the transaction in terms of legal or governance structure, the entire process is widely regarded as a capital path choice led by the TRON controlling team. The new company plans to incorporate TRX into its long-term strategic asset allocation, with an overall approach similar to Strategy's financial strategy for BTC: using the public company identity to strengthen token credit anchoring and build a stable narrative. (Recommended reading: Tron Merges with SRM Aiming for Nasdaq, Justin Sun's Move in the Atmosphere)
Political Cryptography: Justin Sun and the Trump Family's Interest Intersection
Behind this reverse merger transaction lies a clear power logic: the Trump family.
According to multiple sources, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, the eldest and second sons of Trump, joined the advisory board of Dominari Holdings, the parent company of Dominari Securities, before the transaction was announced, each receiving 750,000 incentive shares, with 250,000 shares granted upon joining and the remaining 500,000 shares to be unlocked based on company market value milestones. Although Eric Trump stated he would not hold a position at Tron Inc., the deeper implications of this relationship chain remain a topic of speculation.
Justin Sun's connections with the Trump camp have also become increasingly close. He is an advisor to the crypto project WLFI, led by Trump allies, and previously invested $75 million to support the development of its stablecoin USD1, which has recently launched on the TRON mainnet.
In early 2025, the SEC (now led by crypto-friendly Paul Atkins) and Justin Sun's team jointly applied to suspend the lawsuit, seeking a possible settlement. At that time, the SEC's accusations against Justin Sun were still unresolved but had gradually lost political momentum.
In the following months, Justin Sun was very active: he appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine, dubbed the "crypto billionaire who helped the Trump family earn $400 million"; attended the Token2049 summit alongside Eric Trump; became the guest of honor at the "TRUMP" token community dinner, receiving a limited edition Trump watch; and even rumors circulated that he "only stays at Trump-branded hotels."
Behind this series of intensive interactions is the intertwining of political resources and capital tools, which may also serve as an important support for TRON's entry into the U.S. stock market.
Market Performance and TRON Ecosystem Data
Alongside the advancement of capital pathways, the TRON network itself continues to show growth momentum.
On May 29, Artemis, in collaboration with Dragonfly and Castle Island Ventures, released a report indicating that USDT holds an absolute dominant position in the current stablecoin payment market, with over 60% of its trading volume completed via the TRON network. The estimated annual payment scale for February 2025 has reached $72.3 billion, significantly outpacing USDC's performance in similar scenarios, as the latter is still in the market share catch-up phase.
TRONSCAN data shows that as of mid-July, the total number of activated accounts on the TRON network has surpassed 320 million, with the total number of on-chain transactions exceeding 10.9 billion, and the total locked value (TVL) exceeding $24.6 billion, with stablecoin-related assets remaining the main source of contribution. Among them, the current circulation of TRC20-USDT is 81.6 billion, ranking first globally across all chains; the total supply of the native stablecoin USDD has increased to 500 million, showing significant growth.
In terms of the distribution and supply of stablecoins, Tron is only slightly below Ethereum. Compared to other public chains, the market share of the two is far ahead.
On the mainnet, the deflation process of TRX has officially begun. On June 13, the TRON community overwhelmingly passed Proposal No. 102, reducing the TRX block reward from the original 16 TRX to 8 TRX (a 50% reduction), and the voting reward from the original 160 TRX to 128 TRX (a 20% reduction), with the annual deflation rate of TRX expected to increase from 0.85% to 1.29%. This reduction in production aims to accelerate the deflation process of TRX, optimize TRON's economic model, and ensure the long-term sustainable development of the network.
Currently, Tron Inc. has advanced the inclusion of TRX into the public company's treasury system and has submitted an application for a TRX staking ETF in collaboration with asset management company Canary. If approved, TRX could become one of the core narratives in this cycle. However, the crypto market is highly volatile, and investments should be approached with caution.
Justin Sun and the "New Financial Myth"
Looking back over the past two years, Justin Sun's trajectory can be described as a "dramatic comeback." In 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Justin Sun and TRON, accusing them of issuing unregistered securities and manipulating market transactions, skirting the edges of legality; in 2024, he bet on Trump, becoming a practical driver of political capital; in 2025, he integrated on-chain narratives while going public through a reverse merger. Each step has been taken in the gaps of the times, each step is highly symbolic.
Rather than saying he is pursuing a company listing, it is more accurate to say he is undergoing an identity transformation: from SEC defendant to Nasdaq advisor, from on-chain narrator to Wall Street capital legend. Asia Weekly has once again featured him on the cover as a "global crypto pioneer." From a young talent with a "Peking University dream" in 2011 to becoming one of the recognized Chinese leaders in the crypto industry, the remarkable Gates Sun is becoming synonymous with the "new financial myth."
But regardless of the titles, in this era where "narrative is reality," Justin Sun has indeed completed the interpretation of an important proposition: How do crypto projects systematically "break into" the mainstream system?
And the ringing of the bell for Tron is just the first chapter of this story.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
