In most blockchains, staking is a simple scheme: lock your coins and receive a reward. In TRON, things are more interesting. Staked TRX provides not only the right to earn income, but also real network resources that can be used personally or sold to others.
TRON Stake 2.0 was launched on April 7, 2023, following the adoption of TIP-467, and today it is the main staking model on the network. Users lock TRX and choose which resource to receive: Energy or Bandwidth. At the same time, each staked TRX gives one vote — TRON Power.
The TRX itself remains with its owner and is not transferred to another user.
TRX Turns into a Network Resource
Bandwidth is used for ordinary network operations, while Energy is used to execute smart contracts. Energy is particularly in demand when working with TRC-20 tokens, including USDT.
Energy is what creates a separate economy around TRON. It can not only be used for your own transactions, but also delegated to another address.
This is not a transfer of TRX. The coins remain in the original wallet, while the recipient receives the ability to use the delegated amount of Energy or Bandwidth. TRON Power, meanwhile, remains with the owner and cannot be transferred separately.
This is how a TRON resource rental market emerged. A user who needs Energy can buy or rent it from another holder instead of locking a large amount of TRX themselves.
Many specialized services are already operating in the market, including TronEnergy.store, FeeSave, Tron.Energy, TronBid, and others. For a TRX holder, this turns an unused network resource into a potential additional source of income.
How Much Can You Earn from Energy?
Here it is important to distinguish between two types of yield.
Income from staking and voting is linked to the protocol, while income from selling Energy is market-based. It depends on demand, rental prices, network utilization, the terms of a particular service, and the amount of resources available.
The original material gives the following benchmark: certain CatFee products in July 2026 indicated approximately 12–15% annually, while some services claimed higher figures. TronBid uses a market model in which sellers set their own offers.
Therefore, 15% should not be viewed as a guaranteed APR. Energy yield can change significantly with demand for the resource.
The Second Source of Income — Votes
After staking, the user receives TRON Power (TP). One staked TRX gives one vote.
These votes are used to elect Super Representatives and SR Partners. Depending on whom the user supports, they may receive a share of voting rewards.
This creates an unusual structure:
TRX → Energy/Bandwidth → use or delegate → income
and simultaneously:
TRX → TRON Power → vote for an SR → voting rewards
The same staked TRX therefore participates in two economic mechanisms at once.
Who Are Super Representatives?
At the top of this system are 27 Super Representatives (SRs). They produce blocks, participate in consensus, and take part in on-chain governance.
Voting results are updated every six hours, so the composition of active SRs can change. These 27 participants have the full right to participate in decisions capable of changing network parameters.
An SR receives 8 TRX for producing a block. In addition, each block generates 128 TRX in voting rewards, which are distributed among the 127 most-voted participants: 27 SRs and 100 SR Partners.
SR Partners: You Can Earn Without Producing Blocks
Positions 28 through 127 are occupied by SR Partners. They do not produce blocks, but they participate in governance and are entitled to voting rewards.
For businesses, this is a particularly interesting model: there is no need to maintain full SR infrastructure. The key resource here is users' votes and the conditions under which they are rewarded.
This is why there is constant competition for votes among SR Partners.
For example, Apirone uses a 100% voter reward ratio: the rewards received are fully distributed among community participants. This creates a direct economic incentive to vote for such a candidate instead of a project that keeps part of the rewards for itself.
What Should a Holder of Several Thousand TRX Do?
A TRX holder has several options.
First, use Energy personally. This is particularly convenient for those who regularly make USDT TRC-20 transactions and work with smart contracts.
Second, delegate Energy or Bandwidth. A specialized service handles finding buyers and distributing the resource, while the TRX holder receives market-based income.
Third, vote for an SR or SR Partner and receive a share of voting rewards.
These strategies can be combined.
For example, a hypothetical 15% annual return from delegating Energy/Bandwidth plus around 3% from voting equals approximately 18% nominal yield. Under favorable resource-market conditions, the combined figure could theoretically be even higher.
However, these are not guaranteed 18–20% annual returns. Energy income depends on the market, SR Partner APR changes with the number of votes, and TRX itself remains a volatile asset.
Why This Model Is Interesting
The main feature of TRON Stake 2.0 is that the user receives more than just a percentage for locking coins.
Staking turns TRX into several economic assets at once:
• Energy — a resource for smart contracts;
• Bandwidth — a resource for network operations;
• TRON Power — voting rights;
• voting rewards — potential income from participating in governance;
• the Energy market — an opportunity to additionally monetize staked resources.
Therefore, even several thousand TRX already allow a user to participate in several levels of the network economy at once.
This is what makes Stake 2.0 one of the most unusual staking models among major blockchains: the user receives not simply income for locking coins, but a set of network resources, each with its own economic value.
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