EXCLUSIVE: Tron’s Justin Sun believes blockchain-based financial services could reduce global poverty

Last Wednesday, Justin Sunfounder of Throne TRX/USDgave a keynote interview to kick off the second episode of Benzinga’s virtual trade show series, “Crypto unlocked.” The event focused on global real-world crypto use cases and Tron’s role as the leading USD-backed stablecoin network Tether USDT/USD.

In the exclusive interview, Sun talked about blockchain technology as a basic human need and said that financial services can play a crucial role in reducing global poverty.

“I think people in the US don’t really know that for most of the world it’s very difficult to access US dollars. Ninety percent of people outside the US do not have a US bank account. USDT on Tron gives them an important opportunity to access US dollars. USDT could become an alternative for them to store value and make payments, Sun said.

Sun also highlighted the potential of blockchains to reduce poverty by providing cheap access to financial services.

“I think a big contributor to poverty is actually a lack of financial services. For people in parts of Africa, one of the biggest pain points is that there’s no easy way for people to store value. They can’t access a bank account … Blockchain provides a great solution with basically zero cost. They can use this account to receive money and store value,” he said.

Sun explained that it is easy to take financial services for granted in the US because access is quite common. “I think blockchain will become one of the most important parts of national infrastructure – like gas or water, everyone can use it every day, without a very large cost.”

Sun also highlighted the importance of stablecoins, such as USDT, in providing access to US dollars for people outside the US who do not have access to US bank accounts.

During the interview, Sun said that the Tron network has grown rapidly, serving 2.5 to 3 million users with 9 to 10 million transactions each day – a 30% increase since 2022. He indicated that these users can open accounts for free and spend approx. . 20 øre per transaction.

“Currently, our transaction volume is around $14 billion per day. Since the inception of the network, we’ve done trillions of dollars worth of transactions. We think it’s going to continue to grow, as more and more people have this kind of demand, especially outside the US, ” he said. “Definitely, we will continue to work to drive the use and to provide the most important infrastructure globally.”

Ultimately, Sun sees crypto playing the biggest role outside of the US because there is a greater need for access to a stable fiat currency and traditional financial services in other parts of the world.

“I’ve always believed that stablecoins actually have the biggest use case outside of the US. We think financial services and blockchain services are things that everyone will need in the future. That’s why we want to give the world a low-cost solution that meets this basic human need,” he said.

Photo: Courtesy of Benzinga