The widely awaited launch of the Pi Network’s mainnet has been greeted with a dramatic decline in the value of its native asset PI.
Data from CoinMarketCap indicates that Pi (PI) is down 62% since the token hit exchanges. According to the project’s official X account, the Open Network – as Pi’s mainnet was named – would be officially released this morning at 8 a.m. UTC.
Pioneers, Open Network will launch at 8am UTC on February 20, 2025! With millions of KYC-verified Pioneers and a thriving utilities-driven ecosystem, Open Network expands available opportunities, which allows Pioneers to connect Pi with external systems for use in real-world… pic.twitter.com/AdpXNhpcUD
— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) February 11, 2025
This protocol reportedly allows users to mint PI tokens by using their smartphones. The blockchain’s creators claim that over 70 million users across the world have adopted Pi to secure the network and mine PI tokens. However, the crypto community has questioned this figure.
Pi is designed to use only a small amount of energy to avoid severe battery drainage. Meanwhile, users are compensated with additional mining rewards if they invite others to join the Pi Network and interact with the decentralized apps (dApps) built on this blockchain.
Its enclosed mainnet was launched in 2021. Token holders were not able to swap their assets as the Pi network was not supported by any exchanges. This changed today as the Pi network opened access to third parties including crypto exchanges.
However, to move their tokens to the mainnet, users were asked to go through a Know Your Customer (KYC) proceeding. This mandatory measure was also criticized by the community, as crypto investors typically prefer to stay anonymous. It could also be one of the reasons why PI dropped sharply right after the token hit exchanges.
PI Drops Sharply as Trading Volumes Explode
PI was immediately listed by Gate.io, Bitget, and OKX. These three exchanges currently account for 95% of the asset’s trading volume.
Right after the mainnet’s launch, the price of PI climbed to an intraday peak of $1.992 and started to decline sharply right after. The price currently sits at $0.62 as selling pressure has increased in the past few hours.
PI’s 24-hour trading volumes have surged to $965 million – nearly a quarter of the token’s circulating supply as reported by the project’s developing team.
Despite this drop, if its tokenomics are confirmed, PI would stand as the 29th most valuable cryptocurrency as per CoinMarketCap’s ranking.
This huge decline in the value of PI resembles the collapse of $LIBRA and $TRUMP right after they were launched. These instances where the price of an asset drops sharply after it is listed on exchanges are commonly referred to as rug pulls.
Although PI is allegedly the utility token that powers the Pi blockchain, since the network and its ecosystem are relatively immature, the value of the token will depend primarily on how the public perceives its growth prospects and adoption rates by blockchain-focused app developers.
Pi’s launch may have disappointed some investors, but the presale event of Solaxy ($SOLX), a layer-two scaling protocol for Solana, could perform much better as it strengthens an already popular and successful blockchain project.
Solaxy ($SOLX) Raises $22M to Alleviate Solana’s Congestion Issues
The presale event of Solaxy ($SOLX) is quickly becoming one of the best ICOs of the year as investors have poured $22.5 million into the project already just a couple of months after its launch.
These resources have allowed the developing team to do the necessary prep work to deploy the Solaxy rollup.
Back in January when $TRUMP was launched, Solana’s struggles to process transactions fast during peak usage times were once again evidenced by the delays that top exchanges experienced when processing trade orders.
Solaxy fixes this by reducing the mainnet’s burden by bundling transactions offline. This increases the network’s efficiency and helps the Solana ecosystem scale without hurdles.
Early buyers will benefit from the significant returns that $SOLX could deliver once it hits the exchanges along with the handsome staking rewards offered to those willing to lock their tokens to secure the network.
To buy $SOLX, head to the Solaxy website and connect your wallet. You can either swap ETH, USDT, or BNB for this token or use a bank card to make your investment.
