What is Pi Network?
The Pi cryptocurrency (PI) claims to provide users with a new crypto with all the advantages of bitcoin (BTC) while avoiding its pitfalls.
However, pi has no value as of 6 April 2023, more than four years after it was initially launched. It cannot be sold on any exchange. It does not yet exist on a live blockchain. It has no wallet. It’s mined by people signing into the Pi app from their phones and tapping a button.
So, what is the PI cryptocurrency? How does the Pi Network work? Let's take a look and see what we can find out.
Pi Network explained
The Pi Network was founded by Stanford University academics Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan in 2018. On 14 March 2019, they published a whitepaper and released the Pi Network app.
The app is used to mine the Pi cryptocurrency, with users pressing a button every 24 hours.
Users get an invitation code from a member to join the app. The platform has a referral system in which users earn extra money based on how many new users they sign up.
Pi Network differs from many other cryptocurrencies in that it employs a proprietary mechanism known as the Stellar Consensus Protocol, which enables users to receive benefits for their participation in the network.
There are four types of users on the Pi Network, These are:
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Pioneer: People who mine Piby tapping the lightning button. There were more than 35 million Pioneers, as of 5 January 2023.
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Contributor: Users provide a list of trustworthy users to the network in exchange for an incentive.
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Ambassadors: People who bring new users to the network using their referral code.
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Nodes: Participants using the Pi node software on their home computers.
When the pi network was launched, the basic mining rate was 1.6 PI per hour, which was reduced to 0.8 PI after 100,000 users were added. When one million people began using the app, the reward decreased to 0.4 PI per hour, and then dropped to 0.2 PI per hour once its user base reached 10 million. The mining will continue to go until the network reaches one billion members.
What is the value of PI?
PI is an unlisted token that is practically worthless as of 6 April 2023. As a result, there is no historical data on the Pi Network’s performance since the token has not yet been launched on any cryptocurrency exchange.
The Pi Network’s creators are yet to reveal the number of coins in circulation when the project is formally launched and maximum supply is still to be determined.
On 29 December 2022, however, crypto exchange Huobi Global announced the listing of PI. In the 24 hours following the announcement, the PI price surged 461.3% from $44.03 to $232.97 on 30 December 2022, according to data from CoinGecko. According to the data aggregator, users were also trade the Pi Network token on XT.COM and BitMart.
However, Pi Network responded by warning against the listing of its token on Huobi and other exchanges, tweeting that it hadn’t “authorised any exchange listing” as of 29 December 2022.
The Pi Network has also undergone several milestones in the past year or so.
In September 2022, the Pi Network announced the launch of Pi Connect. Pi Connect was designed to address current Pi Network crypto limitations, as well as offering users information on Pi’s price and conversion rate for other popular cryptocurrencies.
Pi Connect allows Pi Network users to make interoperable trades with other blockchain networks like Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), and others quickly, affordably and securely.
In addition to bridging with Blockchain, PiConnect aims to provide farming and staking, a launchpad platform, lending, auctions and a marketplace, among other things.
On 14 March 2022, co-founder Pi co-founder Nicolas Kokkalis announced that the platform was looking to migrate people who had passed KYC checks' accounts to the mainnet, although no timeframe was specified.
Launch of Pi Bridge
In September 2022, the Pi Network announced Pi Bridge, which seeks to provide a bridge between the Pi Network and other blockchains, beginning with the Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
Pi Bridge, according to the development team, is a trustless gateway that removes the gap between the Pi Network and other blockchains, making Pi available and reachable to the public and providing Pi users with a new permissionless and transparent financial instrument.
Pi Bridge will enable data to move across networks and Pi holders to transit between them freely. This is also an opportunity for Pi holders to capitalise on the asset’s worth.
Pi network price forecast
There are no pi network price predictions available, since the coin has not yet been formally launched. The Pi Network also lacks a price history, making it impossible to analyse how its price reacts to crypto market fluctuations.
If you want to make a crypto price prediction, you will need to consider the cryptocurrency’s existing and prospective use cases, the number of individuals who currently own Pi coins, the team of engineers behind it, the Pi Network’s future potential, and so on. In the case of Pi, there’s no way of knowing all these facts.
If PI ends up being traded on the open market, then the PI coin value will rise above its current price of $0.
When much-anticipated projects are initially listed on cryptocurrency exchanges, their prices often surge over the first few weeks. When individuals hurry to acquire the new prospective ‘big thing’, the market cap rises due to the tremendous demand.
However, the price does not usually stay high for an extended period. It usually falls a few days after the first hype fades because people begin selling their coins to earn quick profits. Will the Pi Network suffer the same fate? We don't know. It may be that PI never launches on the open market.
According to Susannah Streeter, a senior investing and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Pi “has no value” as it “cannot yet be traded”.
She also said that the app is based on “very nascent and experimental technology”.
She added: “Despite high claims, there is no assurance that this network will have a future, and it is much too early to know whether the coins acquired will be worth anything.”
What is the future of the Pi Network?
The Pi coin future price remains uncertain. While the Pi Network has aims to allow anybody to mine crypto and, like many other crypto platforms, wants to make blockchain technology more accessible, it has been riddled with controversies.
The strong incentive structure significantly favours recruitment, while miners are compensated in a native cryptocurrency with no real value.
Investors are recommended to exercise caution when dealing with this type of speculative cryptocurrency venture.
The bottom line
While it is vital to be aware of these facts when trying to ascertain the pi future value, they should not be used as a replacement for doing your own research. Keep in mind that crypto markets are high-risk and very volatile.
You will also need to remember that prices can go down as well as up, and never invest more money than you can afford to lose.
