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Tron CEO, Justin Sun today tweeted his intention to focus more on using TikTok to promote his platform.
Starting today, we'll focus on more TIK TOK content…stay tuned for #TRON videos going viral! #TRX @tiktok_us
— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) July 8, 2020
This follows the overwhelming success of TikTok in pumping the price of Dogecoin (DOGE). Recently, TikTok content creators have latched onto crypto’s “clown coin” in a bid to push it to $1.
According to Gizmondo, the instigator of this ploy goes by the username jamezg97. In one of his videos, he says:
“Here’s an interesting thought, what if everyone watching this video went and bought some Dogecoin. Now obviously I would never suggest this, but could they really stop us? Could they stop us all?”
Today has seen a significant retracement for Dogecoin following its spike to $0.0055. Despite that, its performance this week has still yielded 140% gains at the peak.
Nonetheless, concerns over TikTok creators using Dogecoin for a pump and dump are rampant. Phillip Christenson, Chartered Financial Analyst at Phillip James Financial, said
“It’s not hard to envision the SEC taking down a few of the more popular influencers perpetrating this type of scheme as a warning to others contemplating something similar.”
Christenson later conceded that the chances of this happening are slim.
What’s more, with growing concerns over TikTok being “Chinese spyware,” has the moment passed for Sun to capitalize on the TikTok phenomenon?
Tron 4.0 Launches
Tron 4.0, the era of the Great Voyager, began yesterday with Global Release Online Conference. The eight-hour-long event set about highlighting upgrades to the Tron ecosystem.
The main selling point centered around the implementation of the privacy feature zk-SNARKs within smart contracts.
Other features include faster block confirmation times, cross-chain functionality, and enterprise-level customizable solutions for business customers.
Although TRX has been moving within a steady upward channel since mid-March, the Global Release Online Conference failed to deliver a spike in price action as expected.
Tron daily chart. (Source: tradingview.com)
And with the recent success of TikTok in promoting Dogecoin, it’s easy to see why Sun is drawn to experimenting with it.
However, with so much negative press surrounding TikTok, is this a viable long term strategy?
Anti-Chinese Sentiment
The Indian government moved last week to ban 59 Chinese phone apps, including WeChat and TikTok.
Indian officials claim that these apps are using data illegally by secretly collecting information and sending it to the Chinese government.
This coincides with the flare-up of border tensions between India and China over the Galwan Valley region in the Himalayas.
In the US, The Federal Trade Commission and the US Justice Department are also coming down on TikTok. Investigations have opened on the grounds of TikTok violating privacy agreements.
The allegations state that TikTok had already agreed to delete videos and personal information on users, but failed to do so. Some of the users are children.
A spokesman for TikTok responded by saying additional safety and privacy protections are in place to accommodate under-13s.
60% of TikTok’s users are based in the US. As such, a ban by US officials would be a blow for the company, let alone anyone using it to promote cryptocurrency.
