## From Foundation to DAO: How TRON Reshaped Blockchain Governance

Justin Sun's TRON started as a mission back in 2017: decentralize the internet and cut out the middleman for content creators. Here's how it got there.

**The Early Years:**
TRON's ICO in September 2017 pulled in ~$70M for TRX—perfect timing before China slammed the brakes on token sales. It kicked off as an Ethereum ERC-20 token but didn't stay there long. By June 2018, TRON had its own mainnet, and TRX made the leap to an independent blockchain.

Then came the power move: in July 2018, TRON dropped $140M to acquire BitTorrent Inc., bundling peer-to-peer file-sharing tech directly into the ecosystem. Classic move—buy the infrastructure, own the narrative.

**The Governance Flip:**
Here's where it gets interesting. By December 2021, the centralized TRON Foundation dissolved. Instead of keeping it top-down, TRON shifted to a DAO model—TRON DAO. Translation: the network became community-governed, which is basically the whole point of decentralization.

**Where We're At Now:**
TRON runs dApps, smart contracts, and blockchain solutions with throughput that doesn't choke on fees. Fun fact: a significant chunk of circulating USDT lives on TRON. Not bad for a blockchain that started as a content creator's dream.