## What Pi Network promised
_When Pi Network first hit the scene in 2019, it had a simple but compelling 
pitch: What if you could mine cryptocurrency straight from your phone &#8212; no 
expensive gear, no massive electricity bills, just a tap a day on an app?_
It caught fire. Millions of people jumped on board, lured by the idea of 
&#8220;free&#8221; mobile mining and a chance to get in early on the next big thing. The 
app made it easy: You signed up, invited a few friends, tapped a button every 
24 hours, and watched your Pi (PI) balance slowly grow. With the social 
referral model fueling growth, it wasn&#8217;t long before over 70 million users had 
signed up worldwide.
_**Did you know?** Pi Network utilizes the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), 
which aims for energy efficiency and decentralization, differing from 
Bitcoin&#8217;s energy-intensive proof-of-work._
## What the Pi Network delivered
_The roadmap was supposed to be gradual: start with mobile mining, then move 
toward a testnet, KYC rollout and, finally, full mainnet launch with real 
trading and utility. But that last step took a lot longer than anyone 
expected._
After years in limbo, the Pi Network finally opened its mainnet to external 
trading in February 2025. That should&#8217;ve been a big win. But it didn&#8217;t go 
smoothly. For one, not all users were able to migrate their balances. Know 
Your Customer (KYC) verification became a bottleneck, and many were left 
wondering when &#8212; or if &#8212; they&#8217;d ever be able to access the tokens they&#8217;d 
mined for years.
Then there was the price. When Pi first started trading on external platforms, 
the price spiked, hitting as high as $2.98 in late February. But the hype 
didn&#8217;t last. As early adopters started selling off their tokens and real-world 
use cases remained thin, the price slid hard. By early May 2025, it had 
dropped to around $0.58, wiping out more than 70% of its value.
There&#8217;s also still no real utility. You can&#8217;t spend Pi on much (only in small, 
community-run markets and pilot programs). And while the team talks about 
building a full ecosystem of apps and services, it&#8217;s unclear how fast &#8212; or 
how seriously &#8212; that&#8217;s progressing.
## Why the crypto community grew skeptical
_As the months turned into years, more and more red flags started popping up, 
and the community started asking hard questions._
### 1\. Still waiting on the mainnet
Pi launched in 2019, and for years, users kept hearing that the open mainnet 
was &#8220;just around the corner.&#8221; First there was the testnet. Then the &#8220;enclosed 
mainnet.&#8221; Then a roadmap update. The actual open network didn&#8217;t arrive until 
early 2025 &#8212; six years later. And by that time, a lot of early believers had 
started losing faith.
### 2\. All roads lead back to the core team
Despite the talk of decentralization, the reality is that the Pi Core Team has 
retained almost total control over the project.
 * Every active mainnet node? Controlled by them. 
 * Most of the token supply? Still in their hands. 
That doesn&#8217;t sit well with crypto users who believe in distributed power and 
community-driven networks. Right now, Pi feels more like a private company 
than a decentralized protocol.
### 3\. Where&#8217;s the transparency?
Another sticking point has been the lack of detail on how Pi actually works 
under the hood. The white paper is vague. There&#8217;s no clear breakdown of 
tokenomics, no timelines on when tokens unlock, no burn mechanics and no 
insight into supply control. Without that info, it&#8217;s hard for anyone to judge 
the health or future value of the project.
### 4\. Exchange listings
Despite years of hype, Pi still isn&#8217;t listed on major exchanges like Binance 
or Coinbase. It is tradable on some platforms like OKX and Bitget, but even 
there, things are shaky. Some users have reported trouble withdrawing their 
tokens, with exchanges blaming &#8220;traffic spikes&#8221; and other vague technical 
reasons. It all feels a bit fragile.
For instance, one user on Bitget reported depositing 1,500 Pi tokens but found 
them inaccessible, with no clear timeline for resolution. On OKX, withdrawals 
were suspended for over 24 hours, with users asked to provide ID and email 
verification but given vague responses like &#8220;Your request will be completed 
within 24-48 hours.&#8221;
By April 2025, users reported that MEXC, another exchange listing Pi, 
suspended Pi withdrawals, sparking concerns about liquidity and platform 
reliability. This was compounded by reports of large Pi transfers from MEXC, 
Gate.io and Bitget to OKX wallets, raising suspicions of coordinated price 
manipulation or exchange-level issues.
### 5\. Fake volume and fading hype
At its peak in February 2025, Pi was trading at nearly $3 and generating 
billions in volume. Fast forward a few months, and that volume has dropped off 
a cliff &#8212; down to around $40 million. That kind of collapse raises serious 
questions: Was the demand real, or was it inflated by speculation, bots or 
internal market-making?
### 6\. Users trapped in a closed loop
Even now, many users can&#8217;t actually use or withdraw their Pi tokens. Without 
access to real exchanges or spending options, they&#8217;re stuck in a kind of token 
limbo, watching a number go up in an app but with no way to convert that into 
anything useful.
_**Did you know?** While Pi Network claims over 70 million users, blockchain 
data indicates that only about 9.11 million wallets exist, with approximately 
20,000 showing daily activity._
## Is Pi Network a scam or just a failed vision?
Not every crypto project that stumbles is a scam. Some are just ambitious 
ideas that don&#8217;t quite pan out. So, where does Pi Network fall?
On the surface, Pi doesn&#8217;t fit the classic scam mold. There was no initial 
coin offering (ICO), no upfront investment required &#8212; just an app that lets 
you &#8220;mine&#8221; Pi by tapping your phone daily. That&#8217;s a low bar for entry, and it 
attracted millions.
But dig a little deeper, and things get murkier. The whole system leans 
heavily on referrals, encouraging users to bring in more people to boost their 
mining rate. That kind of structure starts to resemble a multi-level marketing 
scheme more than a decentralized crypto project.
Then there&#8217;s the monetization angle. The app is filled with ads, and users are 
required to complete KYC verification, handing over personal data. So, while 
you&#8217;re not paying money, you&#8217;re paying with your attention and information.
Given these developments, critics such as Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit, and Justin 
Bons, founder of Cyber Capital, have publicly expressed skepticism regarding 
Pi Network&#8217;s legitimacy.
Pi Network might not be a blatant fraud, but the combination of opaque 
operations, aggressive referral tactics and questionable monetization 
strategies certainly raises eyebrows.
_**Did you know?** Pi Network was officially launched on March 14, 2019 &#8212; Pi 
Day &#8212; symbolizing the mathematical constant π (3.14)._
## Can Pi recover, or is it over?
_Is there a path forward for Pi Network? Possibly, but it &#8216;s a steep climb._
First, transparency is key. Open-sourcing the code would allow the community 
to verify what&#8217;s under the hood and build trust.
Second, Pi needs real utility. Right now, holding Pi doesn&#8217;t offer much beyond 
the hope of future value. Integrating Pi into actual use cases &#8212; like 
payments or decentralized applications &#8212; would give the token purpose.
Third, broader exchange listings are crucial. Currently, Pi is available on a 
limited number of exchanges, which hampers liquidity and price discovery. 
Major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase have yet to list Pi, citing concerns 
over transparency and regulatory compliance.
Fourth, decentralization must be more than a buzzword. Currently, the Pi Core 
Team maintains significant control over the network, which contradicts the 
principles of decentralization. Implementing decentralized governance would 
distribute decision-making power and align with the ethos of blockchain 
technology.
But even if all these boxes are checked, time is a factor. Since its mainnet 
launch in early 2025, Pi&#8217;s price has dropped significantly, and user 
engagement has waned. Rebuilding momentum is challenging.
Without significant changes, the Pi Network risks fading into obscurity, 
remembered more for its unfulfilled promises than its achievements.

Is Pi Network dead? What really went wrong behind the hype

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According to a recent CryptoQuant Quicktake post by on-chain analyst 
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