Pi Network price crashes 90%! 50 million users' dreams shattered, 18 billion dollars gone up in smoke.

The Pi Network, dubbed the "Bitcoin Killer," has plummeted 90% from its peak, with its market capitalization evaporating from 20 billion dollars to 2.8 billion dollars. 50 million users have waited for years for the mainnet launch, only to witness the tragic collapse of the Pi Network's price. Why has this once globally popular mobile mining project turned into a ghost chain with no ecosystem?

Pi Network's fall from a global phenomenon project to an evaporation of 18 billion dollars

Pi Network is a cryptocurrency project initiated by Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan in 2018, with an ambitious vision: to become a better alternative to Bitcoin in terms of mining and usage. The founders' core idea is to allow anyone with a smartphone to mine easily and accumulate tokens, breaking the barrier that Bitcoin mining requires expensive professional equipment. At the same time, unlike Bitcoin primarily serving as a store of value, Pi Network claims to establish a practical blockchain supported by an ecosystem, widely accepted by various merchants around the world for daily payments.

This vision has triggered an amazing response globally. Pi Network has become a popular project, attracting over 50 million users to register as "Pioneers." Its mobile browser has accumulated over 100 million downloads on Android and iOS platforms, a number that is almost unprecedented among cryptocurrency projects. Tens of millions of users open the mobile application daily to click the mining button, hoping to accumulate enough tokens to exchange for real money once the mainnet goes live.

In February 2025, after years of waiting and multiple delays, Pi Network finally launched its Mainnet. Well-known exchanges like Gate quickly followed suit by listing trading pairs, allowing pioneers to finally have the opportunity to cash out their tokens. The initial market reaction was extremely enthusiastic, with the Pi Network price soaring from around $0.6 to nearly $3 within just a few days, and its market capitalization once approaching $20 billion, entering the top ranks of cryptocurrency market capitalization. This moment seemed to validate the value of millions of pioneers who had waited for years.

However, this feast was extremely short-lived. The rise after the listing did not last long, and the price of Pi Network plummeted rapidly. It fell over 90% from a high of $3 and is currently hovering around $0.228. This brutal crash has caused its total market capitalization to drop from nearly $20 billion to the current $2.8 billion, evaporating over $18 billion. For those pioneers who bought at high levels or expected higher prices, this is a complete destruction of wealth. Many people invested years of daily mining, only to end up with heavy paper losses or regrets for missing the best cash-out opportunity.

Five Fatal Reasons for the Price Collapse of Pi Network

To understand the severity of the price collapse of Pi Network, it is essential to delve into the multiple structural factors that led to this disaster. The first and most direct reason is the massive sell-off by early adopters. After years of waiting, when the Mainnet finally went live and the tokens could be traded, millions of early users who had accumulated a large amount of PI coins chose to cash out immediately. This behavior is extremely common in the cryptocurrency market and is referred to as "airdrop sell-off" or "unlock sell-off." When a large number of users who obtained free or low-cost tokens early rush to the market to sell simultaneously, even with some buying support, it can be overwhelmed, and the price naturally experiences a big dump.

The second fatal factor is the extremely high inflationary token economics of Pi Network. According to on-chain data, the current circulating supply of tokens is less than 9 billion, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Over the next 12 months, more than 1.2 billion tokens will be unlocked into circulation, and in the long term, there are over 90 billion tokens waiting to be unlocked. This means that the current circulating supply accounts for less than 10% of the total supply, and there will continue to be immense supply pressure in the coming years. According to basic economic principles, when the supply increases significantly while demand is limited or stagnant, prices are bound to fall. The token economic design of Pi Network has effectively set a time bomb for the price collapse of Pi Network.

The third reason is that Pi Network has become a ghost chain with no actual use. Despite the project's promotion over the years to establish a merchant ecosystem for PI coin to be used for daily payments, the reality is that almost no retailers truly accept PI coin as a payment method. There are also no mainstream decentralized applications (DApp) in its ecosystem, no DeFi protocols, no NFT marketplaces, and no applications that can create real demand. When a blockchain token has no practicality and relies solely on speculation and hype to maintain its price, once the hype fades, a price crash becomes inevitable.

The fourth factor is the absence of mainstream exchanges. Although Pi Network has launched on exchanges like Gate, there are still several CEX exchanges that have not yet listed PI coin. The listing standards of these top exchanges are extremely strict, requiring projects to meet high standards in multiple dimensions such as decentralization, transparency, and compliance. The failure of Pi Network to gain recognition from these exchanges not only limits the potential buying power but also reflects possible issues within the project itself. The lack of support from mainstream exchanges means that after the price collapse of Pi Network, it will be difficult to gather enough buying power to support a rebound.

The fifth reason is that the project lacks transparency and a clear development roadmap. Pi Network is managed by a mysterious Pi Foundation, which holds over 90 billion tokens across hundreds of wallets, accounting for the vast majority of the total supply, yet has never undergone any independent audit. This extremely centralized token control structure leaves investors with doubts about the true intentions of the project. There have long been voices within the community questioning whether Pi Network is a scam. Although the project has indeed launched its Mainnet, its operational methods and lack of transparency still keep many on guard. When trust is lacking, prices are naturally difficult to maintain.

The Truth About Ghost Chains: Why 50 Million Users Can't Support the Price

The most ironic thing about Pi Network is that it has over 50 million registered users, a number that far exceeds most cryptocurrency projects and can even rival some mainstream social media applications. However, the large user base has not translated into sustainable price support; instead, it has become an accelerator for the price collapse of Pi Network. This reveals a brutal truth: quantity does not equal quality, and users do not equal value.

Among the 50 million users of Pi Network, the vast majority are not actual blockchain users or cryptocurrency investors, but ordinary people attracted by the concept of "free mining on mobile phones." They open the app daily and click the button, expecting to obtain tokens that may be valuable in the future at zero cost, rather than participating in a blockchain ecosystem with practical applications. This user composition determines that when the token can be traded, most people's first reaction is to sell for cash, rather than to hold or use. This is the fundamental reason why a massive sell-off occurred immediately after the launch of the Mainnet.

The more critical issue is how many of these 50 million users are genuine active users is questionable. Many people may have registered and only clicked occasionally, and there may even be a significant amount of multi-account behavior to inflate numbers. Moreover, due to long-standing issues with the KYC (Know Your Customer) process of Pi Network, many users are unable to complete verification, which means that the tokens they mined cannot truly enter circulation. This "inflation" in user data further undermines the actual significance of the seemingly large user base.

From an ecosystem perspective, there is plenty of evidence that Pi Network has become a ghost chain. Data from blockchain explorers shows that the daily active address count, daily transaction volume, and smart contract invocation numbers for Pi Network are extremely low, far below Ethereum, Solana, and even many second-tier public chains. No developers are building applications on Pi Network, no DeFi protocols are providing financial services, no NFT projects are creating cultural value, and no games or social applications are attracting user retention. The entire blockchain essentially only has token transfer functionality, which is a far cry from a truly vibrant blockchain ecosystem.

Compared to other successful blockchain projects, we can see a huge difference. Ethereum has thousands of DApps and billions of dollars in DeFi locked value, Solana has a thriving NFT and Meme coin ecosystem, and even Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum and Base have rapidly growing applications and user activities. In contrast, Pi Network has almost nothing besides the token itself. This hollow state has caused PI coin to lose its intrinsic value support, making the price collapse of Pi Network an inevitable result. Investors are gradually realizing that holding PI coin has no other reason than hoping someone else will take over at a higher price, which is a typical characteristic of a Ponzi structure.

Redemption or Despair? Possible Paths for Pi Network's Self-Rescue

In the face of the severe situation of Pi Network's price collapse, cryptocurrency investors and experts have proposed several potential remedies that could theoretically boost its price in the short term, but each of these plans faces significant execution challenges. The first and most fundamental measure is to improve the tokenomics by massively burning tokens to reduce the total supply. Experts suggest that it may be necessary to cut the total supply from the current 100 billion coins down to around 21 billion coins, mimicking the scarcity of Bitcoin.

For Pi Network, implementing this kind of burn faces significant obstacles. The Pi Foundation controls 90 billion tokens, which could theoretically be burned in large part, but this would require the foundation to be willing to give up control and potential value, which is unlikely to happen in the absence of external pressure.

The second option is to ensure that the token is listed on mainstream exchanges. Listing on exchanges will bring greater liquidity, more investor attention, and a stronger price discovery mechanism. As PI coin becomes accessible to more investors, it could theoretically trigger a new round of speculation and price increases. However, the question is why these exchanges have not listed PI coin to date? The most likely reason is that the project does not meet the listing standards of these exchanges, including issues related to decentralization, transparency in token distribution, and project compliance. If these fundamental issues are not addressed, mainstream exchanges are unlikely to change their stance.

The third important measure is to end centralized management and achieve true decentralization. Currently, the Pi Foundation holds excessive power, owning more than 90 billion tokens across hundreds of wallets, and has never undergone an audit. This structure makes the Pi Network more like a centralized system controlled by a few individuals, rather than a truly decentralized blockchain. If the team can transfer governance power to the community, establish a transparent multi-signature mechanism, and accept independent audits, it will greatly enhance the project's credibility. Changes in power distribution could drive up prices, as it eliminates investors' concerns about the project team manipulating the market.

The fourth key is to create real-world utility for the PI coin. This requires establishing partnerships with actual merchants so that the PI coin can be used to purchase goods and services. At the same time, it is necessary to attract developers to build applications on the Pi Network, creating real usage scenarios. If the PI coin can find product-market fit in payments, gaming, social or other areas, it will create real demand and fundamentally change the supply and demand dynamics. However, building an ecosystem takes time, resources, and the right incentive mechanisms, which cannot be achieved in the short term.

The fifth measure is to address the underlying KYC verification issues. Many users have reported that the identity verification process of Pi Network is slow, complicated, and often erroneous, which prevents a large number of users from truly participating in the ecosystem. Improving the KYC process to allow more real users to activate their tokens and participate in trading may increase the number of active users and the vitality of the ecosystem. However, this may also bring more selling pressure, as those users waiting for verification may sell immediately once they are able to trade.

Frankly speaking, although these measures are theoretically feasible, the likelihood and willingness of Pi Network to implement them are questionable. The project has been running for years, and if the team truly intended to establish a decentralized and functional blockchain, they should have taken these actions long ago. The current situation seems more like the project lacks genuine technical capability or sincerity, or their business model does not rely on the long-term maintenance of token prices. For investors, expecting a miraculous recovery after a big dump in Pi Network's price may just be wishful thinking.