What Is TRC20?
TRC20 is a technical standard for tokens on the TRON blockchain — it's not a coin itself, it's a format that lets different tokens work consistently with wallets and apps.
The standard, not the token
Think of TRC20 the way you'd think of a file format: it defines a consistent set of rules (like how balances and transfers work) that any token built on TRON can follow, so wallets and exchanges only need to support the standard once to support every TRC20 token.
Where USDT fits in
USDT, Tether's stablecoin, is deployed as a TRC20 token on TRON, at its own specific contract address — this is a separate deployment from USDT on Ethereum (ERC20) or BNB Chain (BEP20), even though all three represent the same underlying stablecoin issuer.
Why people choose TRC20 specifically for USDT
TRC20 transfers on TRON are generally fast (new blocks roughly every 3 seconds) and cheap compared to Ethereum, which is why many exchanges and traders default to it for moving USDT around.