Tron DAO Reserve Acquires Millions in TRX, Bitcoin, and Tether to Safeguard USDD

Seven days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Tron DAO Reserve purchasing $38 million in tron to safeguard the network’s stablecoin USDD. Since then and since the terrausd (UST) de-pegging event, the Tron DAO Reserve has continued to purchase large quantities of digital assets to bolster the project’s reserves. In addition to the tron purchases, the organization has been adding stablecoins and bitcoin into the mix as well.

While Terra’s Stablecoin Imploded, Tron’s Algorithmic Dollar-Pegged Crypto Project Purchases Millions Worth of Tron, Bitcoin, and Tether to Defend USDD

During the past week, all eyes have been focused on the Terra blockchain and its native crypto assets LUNA and UST. Both coins divebombed significantly in USD value and more than $46 billion in value disappeared from the crypto economy in roughly three days. Amid all the carnage, the Tron DAO Reserve has continued to purchase crypto assets for its digital currency-based forex reserves. On May 7, Bitcoin.com News reported on Tron’s founder Justin Sun and the Tron DAO Reserve purchasing $38 million in tron (TRX).

Since then the project has continued to buy crypto amid the market carnage that took place because of the UST fallout. Tron’s stablecoin USDD is also an algorithmic dollar-pegged crypto asset that has similarities to Terra’s UST. After the purchase of 504.6 million tron (TRX), the Tron DAO Reserve tweeted that the team aims to “guard the overall blockchain industry and market, prevent panic trading caused by financial crises, and mitigate severe and long-term economic downturns.” The Tron DAO Reserve (TDR) further added:

We also manage the permissions of USDD as its early custodian and ensure its price stability with reserves.

After the 504.6 million tron purchase, the TDR continued to add funds into the reserve this past week. “To safeguard the overall blockchain industry and crypto market, Tron DAO Reserve have bought 500 BTC with an average price $31,031.35 for $15,515,675,” TDR detailed on May 10. The same day, the TDR said it purchased 595,729,832 tron for $45.6 million. While the crypto market was chaotic that day the TDR team noted “USDD holds steady in today’s market volatility.”

The following day on May 11, the TDR team tweeted: “To safeguard the overall blockchain industry and crypto market, [TDR] have bought 1,000 BTC with an average price of $30,096 for $30,096,000.” Following that purchase, the TDR organization bought 1,467,612,695 TRX for $97 million for the reserves. The TDR then started to buy stablecoins after the $97 million worth of tron was purchased. The TDR team explained on May 12:

To safeguard the overall blockchain industry and crypto market, [TDR] have bought 100,000,000 USDT with an average price of $0.982 with $98,200,000.

The TDR team did not stop there and has continued to purchase more coins to safeguard the Tron network’s stablecoin USDD. The TDR said on May 12, it purchased 200 million USDT for $0.985 per unit which added up to around $197 million in U.S. dollars. The Tron-based stablecoin reserve team then bought 1,249.57 BTC at an average price of around $29,394.

Tron’s Justin Sun ‘Still Believes in Algorithmic Stablecoins’

Currently, on Saturday, May 14, 2022, the USDD stablecoin has a market valuation of around $272.36 million and there are 271,438,207 USDD in circulation at the time of writing. During the past day, USDD has seen $85.5 million in global trade volume and the crypto asset is 156th largest market cap.

Similar to the Terra blockchain’s mechanism of burning LUNA to produce UST, to mint a single USDD it costs $1 worth of tron to issue the crypto asset. This means it can grow as large as the market allows it as it allows anyone to mint the stablecoin in a permissionless manner. However, with the market turmoil that took place because of the UST de-pegging event, it is safe to say the crypto community is leery of algorithmic stablecoin assets.

Despite the issues this past week, Tron founder Justin Sun talked to Coindesk’s Tracy Wang and he said that he is still optimistic about the algorithmic stablecoin model. “I still believe in algorithmic stablecoins,” Sun explained to Wang during a Zoom interview.