TRON (TRX) has been quietly gaining strength again while much of the crypto market remains focused on meme coins, AI projects, and newer Layer-2 networks. Despite the criticism that has followed the project for years, TRX has managed to climb nearly 26% over the last three months and is now trading back above $0.35 for the first time since September 2025.
At the time of writing, TRON is trading around $0.3494 with daily trading volume close to $738 million. The network currently has a circulating supply of nearly 94.8 billion TRX.
What makes the move interesting is that the broader sentiment around TRON remains divided.
Why TRON Still Faces Heavy Criticism
According to analytics platform Santiment, much of the skepticism tied to TRON still traces back to Justin Sun’s long-standing reputation within crypto.
Over the years, Sun has regularly faced accusations involving aggressive promotion tactics, market manipulation claims, lawsuits, and broader regulatory scrutiny. Even now, many retail traders continue viewing TRON as “too controversial” or “too risky” compared to newer ecosystems gaining momentum across the market.
The analytics firm also noted that despite TRX performing strongly throughout 2026, a large part of the crypto crowd still distrusts the project because of associations with earlier hype-driven market cycles.
Stablecoins Have Become Both TRON’s Strength and Weakness
Another major source of criticism has been TRON’s massive role in global stablecoin transfers. The network processes enormous USDT volumes because of its fast settlement speeds and low transaction fees.
However, critics argue that the same efficiency has also made TRON a preferred network for suspicious wallet activity and illicit transfers. Headlines involving Tether freezes linked to TRON wallets have repeatedly added to negative sentiment around the chain this year.
At the same time, some traders remain unconvinced by TRON’s ecosystem growth because much of the expansion has been driven by stablecoin activity and yield products rather than consumer-facing applications or flashy innovation narratives.
Why The Doubt May Actually Be Helping TRX
Ironically, Santiment says the constant skepticism surrounding TRON may actually be supporting the rally instead of hurting it.
Markets often struggle most when retail sentiment becomes overly euphoric. TRON, however, has spent much of 2026 climbing while hesitation, fear, and doubt remained dominant across social discussions.
In Santiment’s view, that lack of crowd conviction may still be leaving room for TRX to continue moving higher while much of the market looks elsewhere.