TRON's circulating USDT passed $90 billion in the first half of 2026, setting consecutive all-time highs and closing in on the $100 billion mark. The network's DeFi total value locked also climbed past $5.18 billion by September 1, placing it among the top five public chains globally.
A Network-Wide Deflationary Push
Core TRON DeFi protocols have been running buyback-and-burn programs that create a deflationary system across the network. SUN.io completed its 50th and 51st rounds in April and July 2026, with SUNX derivatives revenue added to the burn pool. JUST finished its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds, with the July 2026 round being its largest capital allocation to date.
WINkLink launched a dedicated WIN buyback-and-burn program in July, allocating 100% of oracle service revenue to token burns. BitTorrent followed the same month, funneling all revenue from decentralized services into BTT burns. These mechanisms are designed to reduce token supply as usage grows.
DeFi Upgrades and an AI Bet
SUN.io rebranded with a dedicated Chinese brand in January 2026 and launched SunSwap V4 in March to deepen liquidity. JustLend DAO deployed SBM V2 in June, introducing isolated collateral pools for long-tail assets and enhanced risk management. TRON's gasless transaction solution, GasFree, saw exponential adoption across stablecoin transfers.
WINkLink upgraded its price feed portal in March, adding a Market Statistics dashboard for on-chain analytics. BitTorrent formally entered the AI space in June with BTTInferGrid, a decentralized AI compute marketplace.
Counter-Cyclical Growth
TRON pursued a dual-engine strategy of DeFi and AI, achieving counter-cyclical growth despite broader market headwinds in H1 2026. The combination of deflationary tokenomics, expanding DeFi infrastructure, and new AI services helped the network maintain momentum while other chains struggled.
The next milestone to watch is whether USDT circulation can break $100 billion, a level TRON has been approaching all year. With buyback-and-burn rounds continuing across its protocols, the network's supply dynamics will keep shifting in the second half of 2026.
