TRC20 is a token standard on the TRON blockchain that defines rules for creating and transferring tokens. It is functionally similar to Ethereum's ERC20 standard but operates on TRON's infrastructure. The most significant application of TRC20 is USDT (Tether), which has become the dominant version of the stablecoin by circulating supply. Since 2023, TRON has held the largest share of USDT in circulation across all blockchains.
The TRC20 standard requires tokens to implement specific functions including transfer, balanceOf, and approve. This consistency means that any wallet or exchange built to handle TRC20 tokens can support the full range of assets that use the standard. Developers on TRON can easily port ERC20 contracts to TRC20 due to the technical similarity between the two standards.
Key characteristics of TRC20 include extremely low transaction fees (typically under $1), fast confirmation times (blocks finalize in 3–5 seconds), and TRON's delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism which enables high throughput of approximately 2,000 transactions per second. TRC20 addresses always start with the letter 'T', which is the simplest way to visually identify a TRON network address. Always verify this prefix before sending funds.
