Is it air or ecology? Understand the future trend of Pi coin in one article

[TL;DR]:

Since its launch in 2019, Pi Network has quickly attracted a large number of global users with its low-threshold mobile mining model and viral marketing, accompanied by a lot of controversy.

After Pi Coin was listed on Gate.io and other trading platforms, the price soared at the opening and then fell back. This was due to early miners selling off after hoarding for many years, causing the price to collapse. The current price is lower than expected, further promoting selling.

To achieve long-term sustainable development, it is necessary to adapt to real-world regulation and actively support the development ecosystem like Worldcoin (WLD), and make breakthroughs in technology, market, regulation, and other aspects to achieve the transformation from "air" to "ecosystem".

Introduction

Since its birth in 2018, Pi Network has rapidly attracted the attention of tens of millions of global users with its low-threshold 'mobile mining' model. However, along with the massive user base, its marketing methods and token value have also been filled with controversy and doubt. Recently, Pi coin has been listed for trading on multiple exchanges including Gate.io. After the price surged at the opening, it experienced significant fluctuations, once again attracting market attention. This article will analyze the current situation and future prospects of Pi coin from three dimensions: the origin and development of Pi Network (PI), its ecosystem and market performance, and future trends and market lessons, combining rich data and cases.

After six years of separation, Pi virus-like expansion

Since its establishment in 2018, Pi Coin has been in a highly anticipated state of the mainnet launch, but with no specific timeline. Pi Network claims to be a cryptocurrency project officially launched by Nicolas Kokkalis, a Stanford University graduate, on March 14, 2019 (Pi Day), and adopts the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), which allows nodes to reach consensus by allowing trusted small-scale nodes to be selected, ensuring the system can still operate safely and efficiently in the face of malicious behavior. However, its promotional method of attracting users and the opaque Pi coin distribution mechanism have been in a controversial whirlpool for many years. Figure 1 Source: minepi.com

Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin that require high-performance mining equipment, Pi Coin only needs a simple tap on a smartphone to mine. This low-cost, high-efficiency mobile mining model perfectly meets the needs of users in the emerging markets, especially in developing countries with weak financial infrastructure such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, etc. Pi Network has quickly accumulated a large user base.

In addition to the extremely low entry barrier, Pi Network also adopts an exaggerated viral marketing strategy to expand the market size. Specifically, the project party establishes a familiar network by reading the user's address book through the 'security circle' design, using trust endorsements to replace traditional pyramid scheme money incentives. Data shows that the early user conversion rate is as high as 62%, with each user becoming a mobile 'preacher station.' In Jakarta, Indonesia, there are even motorcycle transactions mediated by Pi coins, and the community's spontaneously constructed barter system has become a vivid example of early Pi coin consensus. Figure 2 Source: minepi.com

According to official data, Pi Network has more than 35 core team members, over 60 million active users, and Pi Browser has been downloaded over 100 million times. However, according to multiple reports, only about 15% of registered users have completed KYC and migrated to the mainnet, and the daily average active wallets are only around 20,000, showing a significant discrepancy in active user data.

Doubts about False Prosperity and Centralized Manipulation

Despite having a huge user base, Pi Network has been accompanied by many controversies and doubts in its development process.

First of all, the most well-known aspect is that the mining mechanism of Pi Network relies on users inviting new users to increase mining speed, forming a pyramid-shaped income structure. Early participants obtain excess income by recruiting, while later users may become "bagholders," a model similar to pyramid schemes, which easily evokes some real market risks. Figure 3 Source: pimiss.com

On the other hand, the circulation of Pi coins is entirely controlled by the project party. The KYC review pace and token unlocking speed are controlled by the team, lacking the spirit of decentralization of blockchain. On the surface, the project party creates a short-term scarcity illusion through gradual unlocking. However, according to the mainnet migration data, as of February 2025, more than 6.6 billion Pi coins have been unlocked, far exceeding community expectations. This behavior can easily be interpreted by the market as insider selling by the project party after attracting speculative funds. Figure 4 Source: @PiCoreTeam

In the KYC review, as mentioned above, only about 15% of users who completed KYC, on the one hand, show a large number of inactive users brushing volume, and on the other hand, many users in many regions are rejected in large numbers due to identity verification technology issues, which in turn has led to a surge in black market KYC service prices, indirectly screening for 'high net worth users'.

With the series of problems mentioned above, after the launch of Pi coin, miners who have hoarded Pi coins for many years quickly sold off, directly causing the price to collapse. When the current price fell below the original OTC trading expectations, it further promoted the selling of coins. Later, Pi copied the operation method of Story (IP), cleaned up the circulating chips, and then pulled up the price again, which has now risen to $2.73, with a market capitalization of $18 billion. Figure 5 Source: Gate.io

The use case of Pi coin is limited, and the ecosystem is in urgent need of development

In addition to the above series of issues, the most important factor affecting the price of the currency is whether the ecosystem can maintain prosperity and thus drive the utility of the tokens. At present, Pi has far from reached the market's expectation for speculation, and the lack of sufficient effective practical application scenarios has become its biggest shortcoming.

dApp quantity: The number of ecological tools listed in Pi Browser is less than 20, and only 4 dApps are available, mainly concentrated in the fields of shopping malls, games, and social networking. Almost all applications have not been officially certified and have not used blockchain technology. For example, some shopping mall applications are only network programs developed for offline user communities, showing "This is not a Pinet app", which is unrelated to blockchain. Figure 6 Source: minepai.com

Smart Contract Feature: Pi Network currently does not have complex smart contract functionality, and the official has not provided further updates after the mainnet launch, so it cannot support basic encrypted applications such as DeFi, DAO, NFT in the short term. The official had previously promised to launch smart contracts after the mainnet went live, but as of the writing date, there is still no clear progress.

Payment function: Although Pi Network has a large user base, the acceptance of its payment function is limited, and its viral spread has not yet formed an effective and sustainable payment scenario. Of course, this is also related to the ecological scarcity and compliance risks mentioned above, all of which have led to a relatively low willingness of merchants and institutions to participate. ! Image 7 Source: minepi.com

Developer support: Pi Network organizes global or regional Hackathons from time to time, encouraging developers to submit application ideas based on Pi and launching a developer portal, Pi SDK, and Pi App Incubator Program. However, due to insufficient technical support, developers' participation is limited. As of 2025, the official claim is that "over a hundred apps are ready to be launched on the mainnet," but in reality, very few applications have been implemented.

In short, the future of Pi coin is full of uncertainty. From the perspective of a flash in the pan, Pi coin's price fluctuates dramatically, lacking a solid value support system. If consensus breaks, it may face the risk of collapse. Of course, the community cohesion and technical foundation of Pi Network over the past six years have provided the possibility for its long-term development. If it can gradually adapt to real-world regulations like Worldcoin (WLD) and actively support the development ecosystem, Pi coin may gradually shed its "air" label.

Author: Charle Y., Gate.io Researcher *This article represents only the author's point of view and does not constitute any trading advice. Investment carries risks, so decisions should be made cautiously. The content of this article is original, and the copyright belongs to Gate.io. If you need to reprint, please indicate the author and source, otherwise legal responsibilities will be pursued.