How does the TRON blockchain work?
Now that you know what TRON is, let's take a closer look at the technical workings of the blockchain.
The TRON blockchain uses, among other things, the TRON Virtual Machine (TVM) and consists of three different layers:
Core Layer
Storage Layer
Application Layer
Core Layer
As you might guess from the name, this is the core of the blockchain. Here you will find various modules that give the most important characteristics to the TRON blockchain. Think of the consensus algorithm, account management and smart contracts. The smart contracts make it possible to run dApps on TRON.
Delegated Proof of Stake
TRON's blockchain uses the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus algorithm. Anyone can set up and run a node in the TRON network. This means that nodes can vote for other nodes they trust the most. The node with the most votes gets to add blocks for the blockchain.
Nodes that are allowed to add blocks are called delegates. They receive a reward for the work they do, in the form of TRX Coins.
Voting is done by means of TRX coins, and this is also known as voting power. The more TRX tokens you have, the more voting power you have. Your vote will then have more influence on the result. However, there is a maximum amount of voting power that someone can use. This keeps the network decentralized.
Storage Layer
Earlier in this article it was mentioned that makers can store their digital products on the TRON blockchain. This is done by inside the storage layer. This layer uses a special protocol which consists of Block Storage and State Storage. It was decided to have the protocol consist of two parts, so that the data can be stored in a better way.
Application Layer
Just like Ethereum (ETH), TRON has a special application layer. dApps and smart contracts can be placed on this layer by developers. This is done using the TRON Virtual Machine, which we will talk about in a moment.
With the TRON protocol, users can create their own wallet that is fully personalized. This ensures that not only the makers of digital products can go in different directions with this blockchain, but it is also possible for users to set up applications on this blockchain as desired.
The TRC10 tokens also run on this tier. TRC10 is the token default used by TRON. Developers can create and sell their own TRC10 tokens on the DEX that runs on the blockchain.
TRON Virtual Machine
TRON has its own virtual machine called the TRON Virtual Machine (TVM), which is a Turing Complete Virtual Machine. A mouth full, and maybe you've never heard of this. It is more likely that you have ever heard of the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
The TRON Virtual Machine is a hard fork of the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This means that the TVM was simply copied from EVM, after which a number of adjustments were made to get the TVM working for the TRON blockchain. After all, this works differently than the Ethereum blockchain.
A virtual machine was not just chosen. TRON wants to make it easy for developers to develop an application for the blockchain. With the TVM, the blockchain will become more secure, more stable, more scalable and therefore more efficient. This not only benefits the makers of TRON, but also developers and users of dApps reap the benefits.
Developers can program their own dApp themselves with the Solidity programming language. This is the programming language used for developing dApps on the Ethereum blockchain. There are many similarities, but also some differences between the TVM and EVM:
The TVM uses the Delegated Proof of Stake algorithm , while EVM uses Proof of Stake ;
Transaction costs on the TVM are paid with Energy (and not TRX tokens), while users with the EVM pay their transaction costs in Gas.
Would you like to dive a little deeper into the technical workings of the TRON Virtual Machine? In the video below, a blockchain developer explains everything about the TVM! Checkout more Tron Token Development