Much to everyone’s chagrin, Tron is quickly becoming the defacto blockchain for dApp games. This is an ELI5 guide to get started on Tron, which will get you up to at least minimum proficiency after reading through it.

Step 1: Get Tron

Yea not going to explain this.

Step 2: Send Tron to a web3 enabled wallet

The most popular Tron wallet is Tronlink. If you have used Metamask, it will be very familiar. Once installed on Chrome or Brave, follow the steps to make your account. Be sure to back up your seed phrase on paper. Storing the seed phrase on your computer is bad practice and could lead to someone draining your account. Then make a strong password on your account so no one can mess with your stuff if they are on your computer. Once set up, click the receive button, copy the address, and send the Tron from the exchange to your wallet address. For mobile users, MathWallet is a popular choice.

Step 3: Freeze your Tron

Everything up to now has been standard for all crypto. From here, things get a little different. The Tron network utilizes two different resources: Bandwidth and Energy. Bandwidth is for simple transactions, such as sending Tron or other tokens between addresses. Energy is for interacting with smart contracts and dApps. Every day, users get a small allotment of Bandwidth and Energy, making transactions free, but if you go over the allotment, then you will have to pay network fees with your Tron. To get more resources, you must freeze your Tron. In order to do that, go to Tronscan.

Click on “Sign in” in the top right corner and select Tronlink. After signing in, click the same box and click on your wallet address.

On your account page, scroll down to Tron Power and click the Freeze button.

A box will pop up for further action.

Here, you must specify the amount of Tron and whether to freeze for bandwidth or energy. If you are going to be playing dApps, you will want more energy frozen than bandwidth. Based on my experience, 80% energy, 20% bandwidth is a good ratio. When you freeze your Tron, you have to keep it frozen for at least three days, so make sure you leave enough with which to play dApps. Keep in mind though, that even when you run out of energy and bandwidth, the transaction fees are still only a few cents each, so freezing is not necessary to use the network.

How much to freeze is a complicated decision. The more you freeze, the more staking rewards and network resources you will receive, but you will have less Tron available, especially during the freezing period. Assuming you are here to play the upcoming TEAM JUST Tron dApp, it might be more profitable to use your Tron in the game rather than for staking rewards. Ultimately, deciding this balance is up to you based on your needs.

Step 4: Voting for Tron Super Representatives

Part of why Tron is so fast is that it uses a Delegated Proof of Stake consensus algorithm. There are always 127 nodes in consideration for being Super Representatives (SRs). Tron network participants can use their frozen Tron to vote for different SRs, and the top 27 SRs with the most votes will be responsible for validating blocks, and in return will get 32 Tron per block, with the remaining SRs splitting the rest of the Tron reward pool by proportional votes.

With your frozen Tron, you can vote for SRs. It is up to you how to distribute your votes, but generally speaking, the top 27 SRs offer greater rewards. You should also consider how these nodes support the network, as some build out software and other dApps in the Tron ecosystem. Here is a comprehensive guide to the various SRs in terms of their rewards and how they support Tron.

Here is how to vote. After freezing your Tron, navigate to the TRON SR tab and click votes.

You’ll see this page which shows SR ranks and has convenient links to learn more about the SRs, and click “Click here to start voting”.

Use the + and – sliders to allocate your votes, and when finished click Submit Votes.

And that’s it! After completing this step you will be ready to start receiving Tron Rewards.

By Popular Request:

Gambling Dapps, most notably TronBet, are addictive (possibly rigged too) and will awaken the inner degenerate in you. Best to stay away.