Transactions on the TRON blockchain occur incredibly quickly, with the network designed to handle up to 2000 transactions per second (TPS). Currently, the blockchain processes around 100 TPS, meaning the network is only 5% utilized. For comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) supports 3-6 TPS, and Ethereum (ETH) supports 12-25 TPS.
In addition to high speed, TRON offers one of the most valuable features in the crypto community—staking, i.e., passive earnings in TRX. The staking process is simple, but it is important to understand how new TRX is generated, how rewards are distributed, and in what proportions before starting.
Super Representatives
There are a total of 127 nodes in the TRON network that receive rewards for voting and block generation. These nodes include Super Representatives (1-27) and Super Partners (28-127). Additionally, there are other network nodes—Super Representative candidates (128-…).
Every account in the TRON network can apply and have the opportunity to become first a Super Partner (SRP) and then a Super Representative (SR). To prevent malicious attacks, Super Representative candidates incur certain costs. When applying, the candidate burns 9999 TRX, after which the applying account can join the list of Super Representative candidates.
Super Partners, ranked 28 to 127, do not participate in block production but receive rewards for voting. Users who vote for Super Partners also receive rewards.
Of the 127 Super Partners, the top 27 with the highest number of votes become Super Representatives with the right and duty to generate blocks. Votes are counted every 6 hours, so Super Representatives can change depending on the votes received.
Candidates (128-…) do not produce blocks and do not receive voting rewards but participate in decisions on updates, changes, and implementations of new features, making the network more decentralized and resilient.
Forging and Reward Distribution
The production of each block in the TRON network rewards a certain amount of TRX to Super Representatives and Super Partners. After being broadcasted to the network, transactions are included in future blocks, and after the next 19 blocks are mined in the TRON blockchain, the transaction is confirmed. Each block is produced by one of the top 27 Super Representatives in a round-robin system. Mining each block takes about 3 seconds. Each block introduces a reward—new TRX.
The reward is divided into two parts:
Block Reward: For each block produced, the TRON network generates and rewards 16 TRX to the Super Representative who produces the block. This reward (minus the brokerage fee) is distributed by the Super Representative among those who voted for them, proportional to the number of votes each voter cast.
Voting Reward: For each block produced, the TRON network additionally rewards 160 TRX to all Super Representatives and Super Partners, who share the 160 TRX proportionally to the votes received from voters. The voting rewards received by Super Representatives and Super Partners are also distributed among voters proportionally to their votes after deducting the brokerage fee.
The brokerage fee is a percentage deducted from the rewards of Super Representatives and Super Partners. The default rate is 20%, meaning 20% of the total reward is taken by Super Representatives or Super Partners as a commission. Each Super Representative sets this percentage individually, and it can be zero.
The TRON network generates a block every 3 seconds. The time may vary slightly due to network conditions and the TVM configuration of the Super Representative, but typically a transaction is considered fully confirmed in about 1 minute. A total of approximately 460,800 TRX is generated daily.
Rewards for Super Representatives
The 27 Super Representatives take turns producing blocks. Assuming the default brokerage rate is 20%, the daily block reward for one Super Representative is 3413 TRX.
The daily voting reward has a more complex formula and depends on many variables: the number of votes, validator uptime, brokerage rate, etc.
Thus, TRON ensures a fast and efficient network for transactions while offering attractive earning opportunities through staking and participation in network governance.