The TRON blockchain is experiencing a significant divergence between its fundamental network growth and the price performance of its native token, TRX. According to data from Tronscan, the total number of accounts on the network reached a new all-time high of 355.4 million in December 2025, representing a 26.3% increase since the start of the year. The network is adding over 240,000 new accounts daily, and active addresses have remained steady despite a broader market slowdown.
Simultaneously, TRON's derivatives market has seen explosive growth. Data from Lookonchain and DeFiLlama shows the network's weekly perpetual futures trading volume surged 176% week-over-week to $5.7 billion. For two consecutive days, daily perps volume exceeded $1 billion, with a single-day peak of $1.1 billion on December 23. This surge in leveraged trading activity bucks the declining trend seen in other major ecosystems like Bitcoin and signals heightened interest in TRON's DeFi and derivatives platforms.
TRON's prominence in the stablecoin sector is a key driver of its utility. The network commands 26% of the total stablecoin market, with a stablecoin market capitalization of $80.842 billion, cementing its role in the global digital dollar movement.
Despite this robust network adoption, the TRX token is facing severe price pressure. Data from CryptoRank indicates TRX has fallen more than 16% in Q4 2025, marking its worst fourth-quarter performance since its launch. At the time of writing, TRX was trading around $0.27, down 0.096% over the past day. Analysts note a "clear fundamentals-vs-price divergence," where network strength has not yet translated into token demand.
Further concerns center on centralization. A Bloomberg report alleged that TRON founder Justin Sun controls over 60% of TRX's circulating supply, raising doubts about the network's decentralization claims. Social media analysis has also highlighted the poor performance of other tokens within Sun's ecosystem, such as BTT, SUN, WIN, and JST, which have seen declines of 80% to over 99% from their all-time highs, contrasting with TRX's status as the "only survivor."
Some technical analysts suggest a potential recovery, pointing to a confirmed upside breakout from a falling wedge pattern on TRX's daily chart, a formation often associated with bullish reversals, with predictions of a 30-40% rally.
