Pi Network’s Token Struggles Amid Founder Defense
Pi Network’s PI token is trading around $0.16, which represents a staggering 94% decline from its all-time high of $2.98. Even with a slight recovery from recent lows near $0.13, the mood among early users feels uncertain. Trading volume remains modest, and many people who joined the project early are wondering about its future direction.
But here’s the thing—while the price chart looks pretty rough, the founders keep insisting that the real work is happening behind the scenes. They’re not focusing on short-term price movements, or at least that’s what they say.
Founders Explain Their ‘Nonconformist’ Approach
Co-founder Dr. Chengdiao Fan addressed the growing criticism directly. “Pi feels different from other blockchains because Pi is different,” she stated. “When Open Network launched a year ago, I described Pi as nonconformist, and that still holds.”
She pointed to several features that separate Pi from typical cryptocurrency launches. The network never conducted an initial coin offering (ICO). Mining remains free for accessibility. The platform is mobile-first. And perhaps most importantly, Pi’s Mainnet blockchain requires full identity verification through KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures.
That last point seems crucial to their strategy. Unlike most blockchain networks that allow anonymous participation, Pi insists on verified identities. According to the team, this was an intentional design choice from the beginning.
“Utility also connects with Pi’s focus on KYC identity verification,” Fan explained. “Pi’s fully KYC’d network was fundamental in preparing the blockchain for real-world assets and production processes.”
In simpler terms, Pi is betting on identity-backed utility rather than anonymous speculation. It’s a different philosophy, I think.
Roadmap Focuses on KYC and Development Tools
Co-founder Nicolas Kokkalis outlined their current priorities as the token continues to struggle. “KYC and migration remain a top priority,” he said. “We’re increasing KYC throughput, unblocking more users, increasing speed through further AI integration… and enabling second migrations so more Pioneers can fully participate in the Mainnet ecosystem.”
He mentioned that KYC validator rewards should arrive this quarter, which might provide some incentive for network participants.
On the development side, Pi is expanding its toolset and integrations. “We’re lowering the barrier to building on Pi… including new tools like much faster Pi payment setups.” The team is also pushing deeper into AI capabilities and app development through their App Studio platform.
At the protocol level, work continues on nodes, upgrades, decentralized exchange functionality, and liquidity pools. It’s a lot of technical work happening simultaneously.
A Different Philosophy for a Different Outcome
Fan made one particularly interesting point that clarifies their approach. “It’s easy to enable fast, high-volume trading. It’s much harder to enable tokens to be used inside real products.”
She questioned the broader cryptocurrency industry’s focus: “If those tokens don’t map to anything real, what’s the point?”
This philosophy might explain why Pi hackathon applications often resemble dating platforms or e-commerce tools rather than pure decentralized finance speculation engines. The founders seem more interested in building practical applications than creating trading instruments.
So while the price decline looks dramatic—and it is dramatic—the founders appear committed to their original vision. They’re choosing what they call patience over hype, betting that their identity-verified, utility-focused approach will eventually prove valuable. Whether that bet pays off remains to be seen, but they’re certainly sticking to their guns.
It’s a risky strategy in a market that often rewards speculation over substance. But perhaps that’s exactly what makes them ‘nonconformist,’ as they describe themselves. The next few quarters will show whether this approach can gain traction or if the market will continue to judge them primarily by their token price.
