Tron CEO Justin Sun has done it again! Turns out the new partnership with “an industry giant valued at tens of billions of dollars” he was hyping so much about on social media actually only gives Tron access to Baidu Inc.’s cloud computing resources.
It is NOT a contract that binds the two companies at a blockchain business level.
Misleading Tweets
Love him or hate him, Justin Sun sure knows the fine art of sneaking his way into crypto headlines — even if it requires him to deliberately create hypes around mundane everyday stuff concerning Tron and TRX (presumably with the hope that some of the hypes stick and add value to the company’s marketing efforts).
The much-talked-about deal with Baidu seems like yet another extension of that strategy.
Sun tweeted Oct. 12 that Tron had entered into a partnership with an industry giant valued at tens of billions of dollars. He didn’t reveal the name of this new “partner” and instead asked followers to make a guess.
Finally, First time to partner with tens of billions USD valuation industry giant. Guess the name ?#TRON #TRX $TRX
— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) October 12, 2018
His technically correct but seemingly deliberately misleading tweet soon sparked speculations in the crypto community that Tron has entered a deal with Chinese Internet giant Baidu.
Of course, the speculations worked out pretty well for Tron. After all, Baidu is one of the largest Internet companies in the world by user base and revenue. It controls nearly 80% of China’s online search market.
In less than 24 hours following Sun’s Oct. 12 tweet, TRX price jumped 16 percent from $0.02 to $0.023667 and has stayed in that range since.
However, to the disappointment of many optimistic Tron investors and followers, the local media in China later reported that the deal between Tron and Baidu doesn’t really amount to a partnership.
Did Justin Sun Lie About Tron’s Partnership With Baidu?
Well, technically he didn’t lie. Tron has indeed inked a deal with Baidu.
However, the scope of the deal is fairly limited, and it won’t see Baidu and Tron joining forces to work on new blockchain projects (like what many Tron investors and crypto enthusiasts were initially led to believe). Instead, the deal gives Tron access to Baidu’s cloud computing resources.
According to local Chinese publication oDaily, the Tron–Baidu deal enables the former to launch, build, and operate blockchain-powered products on Baidu Cloud. The report added:
“However, Baidu and Tron have not yet formed any connection at the blockchain business level. Currently, the cooperation mainly focuses on the purchase and use of [Baidu’s] basic cloud computing resources.”
This makes perfect sense considering Baidu is working on its own blockchain network dubbed Xuperchain, which means that it doesn’t actually have to rely on or collaborate with any third-party blockchain protocol or project.
While it’s unlikely that Justin Sun will budge from this habit of making exaggerated claims and hype for marketing gains, he should probably consider maintaining a higher degree of transparency while announcing any future blockchain/crypto projects or partnership. After all, frequently misleading investors with exaggerations and half-truths could potentially hurt the company by compromising its reputation and credibility.
