PLEASE READ EVERYTHING BEFORE COMMENTING AS SOMETHINGS ARE CLARIFIED AS THE ARTICLE PROGRESSES. Thanks.
Before we start, what exactly is Vapourware?
Now, I see this term being thrown around a lot, some use it properly and some don't. Google is pretty accurate so here it is. (Excuse my Australian spelling of Vaporware please.)
However, a slight difference in respect to cryptocurrency is that, the "software or hardware" is actually avaliable to buy before its completed. In this sense, yes, Tron is vapourware; But the majority of cryptocurrencies are as well, at this very early stage. The market cap is only around $450 Billion dollars right now which is nothing compared to the money invested elsewhere in the world, see below.
Vapourware in Cryptocurrencies
So what? I expect a fully working product otherwise I'm not investing in them. Right....this is really hard to do for a couple of reasons. As mentioned above, it is a really early stage with innovation which is occuring at a rapid rate but this innovation originally came about from concepts right? And these concepts can't be fufilled without money and time. The industry is built upon speculative investment because its so early at this stage. Without knowing it, we are investing in the potential Apple's and Amazon's of the future. The question regarding Tron, is not if it's vapourware or not, but was the money and hype for Tron worth the development put in to make it "a product" from "a concept" at that point in time where it reached #6 spot at an all time high of $0.31 USD? No...of course not. There was barely any code...
Tron's Case
For it's contents, it got overhyped. Simple as that. But like everything changes, so does tron. The FUD surrounding Tron has died down, and for a good reason - progression. We are seeing less and less announcements by Justin, more development updates and gradual progression on github over time - trying to do what I said before - turning its "concept" into a "product".
Currently, on Github it has 895 commits which is not much but taking into account how new it is, it's pretty good.
On CryptoMiso, it is currently 5th in terms of commits in the last 3 months. It started development ~4 months ago, so I would say that a job well done. They are developing incredibly quickly.
From their recent Technical Livestream... (There's more technical stuff if you want to read it).
Q. When will you launch the main net?
Test net will be launched on March 31th 2018.
Main net will be launched on July 1st 2018.
Q. Tell us more about TRON, what will Tron become? Tron is a decentralized Blockchain platform, our goal is to make Tron an operating system in the Blockchain space. Tron will support smart contracts so developers can deploy DApps on it. And the consensus we are using, which based on DPOS, will guarantee a high TPS. You can find more details about TRON on our new whitepaper which is coming soon.
That's right, full main net on July 1st and a new whitepaper. For me, Tron is doing everything right to make me invest into it regardless of past FUD and their faults. Now I think Tron deserves the value it currently holds (maybe a bit more).
Conclusion
Is Tron a speculative investment? - Yes, of course, like pretty much every other cryptocurrency.
Is Tron vapourware? - Doesn't matter.
What should I do? - You need to ask yourself, not just for Tron but for every cryptocurrency, is what I am buying actually worth its development currently and in the future. In the end, its up to you to assess whether Tron is a hype ponzi scheme or actually a worthwhile investment.
Thanks for reading!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow me on Twitter and Steemit for updates and more news about all things crypto. :)
If you wish to engage in trading/buying cryptocurrencies follow this guide.
Guide to Tron and shout out to Ocoin.
Disclaimer — I’m definitely not a professional and am obviously giving my own opinion, not advice. Never invest what you aren’t willing to lose. Always research on your own before investing. I do not hold any responsibility at all.