Pi Network founding team infighting exposed: co-founder accused of misappropriating $20 million funds, Pi coin market capitalization falls out of Top 50.

As the price of [PI]https://www.gate.com/sell-pi-network-pi( (Pi Coin) plummeted by 22% in the past week and fell to around $0.25, the project has dropped out of the top 50 crypto assets list. The main reasons leading to this big dump and the collapse of community confidence point to the core team's long-term silence and the latency of the Mainnet launch. An even more serious crisis comes from legal accusations against former executives, claiming that the co-founders misused $20 million of early funding and there are internal equity disputes and workplace conflicts, which seriously question the Pi Network's "community-first" vision and the project's transparency and governance.

Former executives accuse: The whereabouts of 20 million dollars remain a mystery and internal conflicts exposed

Pi Network is facing the most severe trust crisis since its establishment. Legal documents from former executive McPhilip have revealed financial opacity and serious power struggles within the core team.

Dispute over Fund Misuse and Equity Dilution: McPhilip claims he was unjustly expelled from the project and accuses co-founders Dr. Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan of mishandling financial resources. Court documents show that during the financing from 2019 to 2020, the company was valued at 20 million dollars, but the co-founders attempted to dilute McPhilip's ownership by issuing new shares at a low price of 0.00005 dollars per share.

Internal Strife and "Toxic Work Environment" within the Core Team: As early as 2020, legal documents revealed internal disputes among the co-founders, leading to a toxic work environment at the mainstream CEX. McPhilip claimed that after the internal conflict escalated, he was revoked access to the company's servers, financial accounts, and operational tools by the mainstream CEX.

Community Concern: Community members have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the core team's silence and the failure of ecosystem development. Well-known community member Mr. Spock stated bluntly: "The core team secured $20 million in funding in 2019. They could have used this funding in 2020 to build a complete ecosystem with 100 applications, but they concealed the funding information from the community and investors. The core team has always had the funds to correctly build the Pi Network, but has been plagued by conflicts of control and personal issues of the founders."

Market Performance: Pi coin falls out of the top 50, lack of use cases becomes a fatal flaw

Under the combined effects of internal disputes and external doubts, the market performance of Pi coin continues to be sluggish, and investor confidence has been undermined.

Price big dump and ranking decline: The price of Pi coin has fallen by 25% in the past week, dropping to a support level of 0.25 dollars. This fall has caused the altcoin to drop out of the top 50 rankings in cryptocurrency market capitalization, despite previous rumors of being listed on mainstream CEX. It's worth noting that the project had once surged into the top 15 earlier this year.

Mainnet latency and lack of use cases: The core team has continuously delayed the launch of the Mainnet and has failed to present a concrete development plan, which is the main reason for the massive sell-off. Community members generally believe that the team lacks efforts to build the Pi Network ecosystem, resulting in the Pi coin lacking fundamental utility in mainstream CEX.

The contradiction of "Global Consensus Value": The core team continues to uphold the mainstream CEX "Global Consensus Value (GCV)" by anchoring each Pi coin at the absurdly high price of 314,159 USD in mainstream CEX, which is in serious contrast to the current actual trading price of around 0.26 USD. This lack of clarity and reality detachment further undermines the trust of supporters.

Future Outlook and Market Warnings

Although the Pi Core Team is still conducting technical updates such as Protocol v23 on the testnet, conflicts among the founders and doubts about the use of funds have fundamentally challenged the project's transparency, governance, and community vision. Co-founder Chengdiao Fan is expected to attend the TOKEN2049 event held from October 1 to 2 this week, which could be a key opportunity for the core team to break their silence and respond to community concerns.

The market will closely monitor whether the core team can provide clear and convincing explanations on key issues such as legal disputes, financial transparency, and Mainnet launch; otherwise, the downward pressure on Pi coin will continue to increase.

Conclusion

The crisis faced by Pi Network has escalated from a simple delay in technical development to a trust crisis involving fund misuse and internal governance. In the context of a lack of transparency and core use cases, the price and market capitalization ranking of Pi coin have significantly declined, reflecting the market's loss of confidence in the project. The core team must confront and respond to the accusations from former executives and the calls from the community, taking concrete actions rather than empty visions to rebuild trust; otherwise, their mainstream CEX 'community-first' concept will become mere talk, and the future of the project will be filled with uncertainty.

Disclaimer: This article is for news and information purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, and investors should make decisions with caution.