Many of the top crypto coins are down this morning, but amid the carnage, Tron (TRX) is standing strong, having doubled its value in a month, leaving the crypto community at large to wonder how Justin Sun and company have pulled this off.
Analysts are making a lot of hay out of the Tron Bittorrent token, but for others who understand how regulators matter to coin holdings, there’s another reason that Tron is currently ahead of the pack.
Just today, there are reports that Tron has hired a former United States Securities and Exchange Commission supervisory attorney, David Labhart, as its first chief compliance officer.
“The company has revealed this to Cointelegraph in a press release on Jan. 9,” writes CT reporter William Suberg. “David Labhart, who previously worked as an attorney for the U.S. regulator, will also take on the role of co-general counsel at the company.”
Why does this hiring make such a big difference?
If you’ve been following the larger news on crypto, you probably know that the SEC has been back and forth on whether to approve a Bitcoin ETF, a move that would have big market ramifications. After rejecting a bid from the Winklevoss twins, the SEC has been looking sort of askance at the VanEck SolidX ETF proposal, which it is due to rule on in February.
Because the SEC has so much power to change crypto markets, news that a coin company has brought a former SEC regulator into the fold is powerful stuff.
But that’s by no means the only feather in Tron’s cap: late last year we were showing readers how Tron has become synonymous with the decentralized Internet, and how its decentralized apps or “d-apps” have brought gamification to the blockchain, as in efforts to build new crypto online gaming platforms.
Someone trying to simplify the story of Tron’s rise might say that it’s the pursuit of new, shiny, sexy headlines and attractive consumer offerings that have made TRX what it is today – but having a former SEC lawyer on board doesn’t hurt.
“Tron, along with its associated TRX token, has built a major presence over the past year, in part due to the continued, and at times controversial, publicity efforts centered around CEO Justin Sun … Designed to offer an alternative platform for decentralized applications to Ethereum, Tron celebrated its one millionth user account last month … Evolving regulatory compliance obligations remain an issue for cryptocurrency entities serving both the U.S. and most other major markets.”
If you want to track a winner, follow Tron as it makes its way through a battered coin market today.