$PI Seven years have passed, and many people have gradually gone their separate ways. Tiredness and disappointment have turned love into hate. For an individual, seven years is a very long stretch of time; but for a great project or for the progress of human civilization, it is only a brief instant—perhaps many people cannot truly understand it.

Pinetwork’s original intention was to conduct a social experiment. When the number of miners reached 10,000, the core team felt excited. When the number of miners reached 1,000,000, the nature had already changed: it was no longer just a social experiment, but a project. When miners broke through 10,000,000, or even reached the tens of millions we see today, it was no longer merely a project either. For the project team, they had already taken a path that cannot be turned back from—meaning a kind of responsibility and a contract. This heaviness, I believe, many people cannot understand: the trust and expectations of tens of millions of people.

Just based on A Diao and Lao Si’s impressive resumes, they could have gone to giants like Google or Facebook to secure positions, earn top-tier salaries, and live an easy life. Or, at the height of the hype, they could simply issue a coin at will, pull the market for a moment, then cash out and walk away, leaving a mess behind. Why bother taking on a project that attracts endless malicious attacks and abuse? For elite figures like Lao Si and A Diao, money is no longer the goal they pursue. They have higher aspirations in life. The core team is even more hungry for success than we are. That sense of achievement cannot be bought with any amount of money. The thinking level of ordinary people focuses on real, immediate benefits—these two are completely different categories. This is the root of the countless malicious attacks and slander happening today.

I understand, and I’m willing to follow the project from start to finish. Even if the project announces failure, I won’t regret it. As an ordinary person, I feel extremely fortunate to take part in such a century-defining project—one that connects the entire world.