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![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/1740646629newindustryanalysis.jpeg)
## [TL；DR]: 
Since its launch in 2019, Pi Network has quickly attracted a large number of users around the world with its low-threshold model of mobile phone mining and viral marketing, and has also been accompanied by a lot of controversy.

After Pi coin was launched on trading platforms such as Gate.io, its price opened high and then fell. This was because early miners sold off their stocks after years of hoarding, which caused the price to collapse. The current price is lower than expected, which further prompted the selling.

If we want to achieve long-term sustainable development, we need to adapt to real-world supervision and actively support the development of the ecosystem like Worldcoin (WLD), and make breakthroughs in technology, market, supervision and other aspects to achieve the transformation from "air" to "ecosystem".

## Introduction
Since its birth in 2018, Pi Network has quickly attracted the attention of tens of millions of users worldwide with its low-threshold model of "mobile phone mining." However, along with the huge user base, its marketing methods and token value are also controversial and doubtful. Recently, Pi coins have been listed on multiple trading platforms, including Gate.io. The price opened high and then plummeted and soared. This drastic price fluctuation has once again attracted market attention. This article will analyze the current situation and prospects of Pi coins from three dimensions: the origin and development of Pi Network (PI), ecosystem and market performance, future trends, and market lessons, combined with rich data and cases.
 
## After Six Years, Pi has Gone Viral
Since its establishment in 2018, Pi coin has been in a state of being highly watched by the market, although the mainnet launch is far away. Pi Network claims to be a crypto project officially launched on March 14, 2019 (coincidentally Pi Day) by the team of Stanford University graduate Nicolas Kokkalis. It adopts the <a href="/price/stellar-xlm" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Stellar</a> Consensus Protocol (SCP) to reach consensus by allowing nodes to select a small range of trusted nodes to ensure that the system can still operate safely and efficiently in the face of malicious behavior. However, its propaganda method of attracting people to increase volume and its opaque Pi coin distribution mechanism have been in the whirlpool of public opinion for many years.
 ![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/17406480901.jpeg)
Source: minepi.com
 
Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, such as <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a>, that require high-performance mining equipment, Pi coins can be mined with just a tap on a smartphone. This low-cost, high-efficiency mobile mining model precisely meets users' needs in the sinking market, especially in developing countries with weak financial infrastructure, such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Pi Network has quickly accumulated a huge user base.

In addition to the extremely low entry threshold, Pi Network has adopted a very exaggerated viral marketing to expand the market size. Specifically, the project party uses the "safety circle" design to read the user's address book to establish an acquaintance network, and uses trust endorsement to replace the monetary incentives of traditional pyramid schemes. Data shows that the early user conversion rate is as high as 62%, and each user becomes a mobile "evangelistic station." In Jakarta, Indonesia, there are even motorcycle transactions using Pi coins as the medium, and the barter system spontaneously built by the community has become a vivid example of the early consensus of Pi coins.
 ![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/17406481132.jpeg)
Source: minepi.com

According to official data, Pi Network has more than 35 core team members, more than 60 million active users, and the Pi browser has been downloaded more than 100 million times. However, according to multiple reports, users who have completed KYC and migrated to the mainnet only account for about 15% of registered users, and the average daily active wallets are only 20,000, which shows that the active user data is very inaccurate.
 
## Questions about False Prosperity and Centralized Manipulation
Although Pi Network has a large user base, its development has been accompanied by many controversies and doubts.

First, the most well-known is that Pi Network's mining mechanism relies on users to invite new users to increase the mining speed, forming a pyramid-like profit structure. Early participants obtain excess profits by recruiting new users, while later users may become "takers". This method, similar to pyramid schemes, easily reminds people of real market risks.
 ![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/17406481373.jpeg)
Source: pimiss.com
 
On the other hand, the circulation of Pi coins is completely subject to the project party, and the team controls the KYC review rhythm and token unlocking speed, lacking the spirit of blockchain decentralization. On the surface, the project party creates a short-term scarcity illusion by gradually unlocking, but according to the mainnet migration data, as of February 2025, more than 6.6 billion Pi coins have been unlocked, far exceeding community expectations. The market can easily interpret this behavior as an insider behavior of the project party to attract speculative funds to enter the market and then sell them.
 ![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/17406481584.jpeg)
Source: @PiCoreTeam

In the KYC audit, as mentioned above, only about 15% of users have completed KYC. On the one hand, this shows that a large number of inactive users are swiping the volume. On the other hand, a large number of users in many regions are rejected due to technical issues with identity verification. This has in turn led to a surge in the price of black market KYC services, which is a disguised screening of "high net worth users."

Along with the above series of problems, after Pi coin was launched, miners who had hoarded Pi coins for many years quickly sold them, which directly caused the price to collapse. When the current price was lower than the original OTC trading expectations, it further promoted the selling of the coin price. Then Pi copied Story (IP)'s trading method, and after cleaning up the circulating chips, it again soared. It has now risen to $2.73, with a circulating market value of $18 billion.
 ![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/17406481865.jpeg)
Source: Gate.io 
 
## Pi Coin Has Limited Use Cases and Its Ecosystem Needs to be Developed Urgently
In addition to the above series of problems, the most important factor affecting the price of the currency is whether the ecosystem can maintain prosperity and thus drive the token's utility. As far as the current situation is concerned, Pi is far from meeting the market's expectations for a boom, and the lack of sufficiently effective practical application scenarios has become its biggest shortcoming.

Number of dApps: There are less than 20 ecosystem tools listed in Pi Browser, and only 4 dApps are available, mainly in the fields of shopping malls, games, and social networking. Almost all applications are not officially certified and do not use blockchain technology. For example, some shopping mall applications are only network programs developed by offline user communities, and they show "This is not a Pinet app" and have nothing to do with blockchain.
![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/17406515866.jpeg)
Source: minepai.com
 
Smart contract function: Pi Network does not have complex smart contract functions, and the official has not provided further updates after launching the mainnet. In the short term, it cannot support basic crypto applications such as DeFi, DAO, and NFT. The official has previously promised to launch smart contracts after the mainnet is launched, but as of the date of writing, there is still no clear progress.

Payment function: Although Pi Network has a huge user base, its payment function has limited acceptance, and its viral spread has not yet formed an effective and sustainable payment scenario. Of course, this is also related to the lack of ecosystem and compliance risks mentioned above, which have led to a low willingness of merchants and institutions to participate.
 ![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/17406482377.jpeg)
Source: minepi.com
 
Developer support: Pi Network holds global or regional hackathons from time to time to encourage developers to submit Pi-based application ideas, and has launched a developer portal, Pi SDK, and Pi App incubator program. However, developer participation is limited due to the lack of sufficient technical support. As of 2025, the official announcement is that "more than 100 apps ready to be put into the mainnet", but very few applications have actually landed.

In short, the future of Pi coin is full of uncertainty. From the perspective of a flash in the pan, the price of Pi coin fluctuates violently and lacks a solid value support system. If the consensus breaks down, 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. Suppose it can gradually adapt to the reality of supervision like Worldcoin (WLD) and actively support the development of the ecosystem. In that case, Pi coin may gradually get rid of its "air" label.



<div class="blog-details-info">
<div>Author:**Charle Y.**, Gate.io Researcher
<div>Translator:Joy Z.
<div class="info-tips">\*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions. All investments carry inherent risks; prudent decision-making is essential.
<div>\*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.
</div>


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Pi Network has rapidly expanded its user base through mobile mining and viral marketing since 2019, but faces token value disputes and ecosystem difficulties.

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Air Or Ecosystem? Understanding The Future Trend of Pi Coin in One Article