PI (Pi) increased by 1.14% in the past 24 hours

Gate News Bot Message, January 05, According to CoinMarketCap data, at the time of press, PI (Pi) is trading at $0.21, up 1.14% in the past 24 hours, with a high of $0.22 and a low of $0.20. The current market capitalization is approximately $1.779 billion.

Pi is the first digital currency that can be mined on mobile phones. Pi uses groundbreaking technology that allows users to mine on their phones without draining the battery. The project has three core features: decentralization—providing secure, immutable, and tamper-proof interoperable digital currency; mobile-first—operating on phones without battery consumption; environmentally friendly—easy to use, scalable, and without large-scale electricity waste. Users can start mining through a free mobile app, simply by receiving an invitation from existing trusted network members.

Important recent news about PI:

1️⃣ Expectations of Large-Scale Token Unlock and Security Incidents Double Pressure

Pi Network plans to unlock a large amount of tokens in January 2026, releasing approximately 134 million PI tokens, which is over 15 times the roughly 8.7 million tokens unlocked at the end of December. Against the backdrop of over 60 million pioneer users, the community expects the large user base to absorb the new supply. However, due to limited trading channels for PI, insufficient support from mainstream exchanges, and an incomplete price discovery mechanism, whether such a large token release can be fully absorbed by the market remains uncertain. Additionally, Pi Network recently suffered a serious social engineering attack, resulting in the theft of over 4.4 million PI tokens, prompting the project to temporarily suspend wallet payment request functions. Scammers exploited blockchain transparency to lock large amounts of PI in wallets and impersonate payment requests to deceive users into granting authorization. Since July 2025, related scam wallets have received between 700,000 and 800,000 PI tokens, with a noticeable acceleration of fund inflows in December. This security incident highlights governance challenges faced by Pi Network during the critical mainnet migration phase, which could cause short-term impacts on user confidence.

2️⃣ Infrastructure Optimization and Ecosystem Application Development Support Mid-Term Growth

Pi Network is conducting structural upgrades to its testnet decentralized exchange, migrating multi-token liquidity pools into Pi-denominated liquidity trading pairs, aiming to concentrate on-chain liquidity and reduce trading slippage. Under the new architecture, users no longer need to convert through multiple intermediary tokens, bringing the system closer to mainstream DeFi asset pegging models. Over 1.2 million previously restricted users have been unlocked, allowing about 250,000 users to resubmit KYC applications. The first Open Network hackathon received 215 mainnet application submissions, covering privacy social, merchant loyalty, gaming, and entertainment sectors. These infrastructure advancements create conditions for deploying ecosystem applications and provide substantial support for mid-term development.

3️⃣ Commercial Application Deployment and User Growth Provide Fundamental Support

During the holiday period, Pi Network promoted large-scale merchant participation activities, with over 220 global merchants involved in holiday trading scenarios and more than 125,000 merchants participating in holiday commercial plans. Over 215 mainnet applications remain active within the ecosystem, covering business, services, and community interaction scenarios. The expansion of these practical use cases provides fundamental support for the project. While it is difficult to fully offset the selling pressure caused by token unlocks in the short term, it indicates that the project is shifting from community-driven to application-driven development.

4️⃣ Market Expectations and Reality Highlight Risks

The community discussion on whether Pi Network can reach a $1 trillion market cap by 2026 continues to intensify, which would require PI to increase by over 70,000% from its current price. However, the current market expectation for PI’s price in 2026 is between $0.15 and $0.22, reflecting investor expectations of stable development rather than exponential growth. This significant gap indicates major disagreement among market participants regarding PI’s true value amid limited external liquidity and lack of mainstream exchange support. The current upward trend is more driven by short-term technical adjustments rather than fundamental improvements.

This message is not investment advice. Please be aware of market volatility risks.