Pi Coin’s Highly Anticipated Launch Sparks Volatility as Price Drops

Pi Coin’s long-awaited debut has taken an unexpected turn, with its price crashing within just 24 hours of launch. The cryptocurrency, which had generated years of excitement and speculation, saw its value drop dramatically from $2 to $0.80—a staggering 60 percent decline—leaving investors questioning its long-term viability.

The digital asset officially transitioned to an Open Mainnet on Thursday at 8:00 a.m. UTC (9:00 a.m. WAT), marking a pivotal moment for the Pi Network. This shift from an enclosed ecosystem to a fully operational blockchain was expected to empower millions of ‘Pioneers’—the project’s community members—to trade, transfer, and utilise their tokens in real-world transactions. However, the turbulence that followed has raised concerns about its stability.

A Journey Years in the Making

Founded in 2019 by Stanford alumni Dr Nicolas Kokkalis and Dr Chengdiao Fan, Pi Network set out to revolutionise cryptocurrency mining by making it accessible via smartphones. Unlike Bitcoin, which requires power-intensive mining rigs, Pi allowed users to mine simply by tapping a button in the Pi Network app every 24 hours. This approach attracted a vast global following, with over 19 million users completing Know Your Customer (KYC) verification and more than 10 million migrating their tokens to the Mainnet by the January 31, 2025, deadline.

Despite this momentum, the Open Mainnet launch faced several setbacks. Originally scheduled for December 31, 2024, it was postponed to February 20, 2025, as the network worked to complete KYC verifications and establish at least 100 functioning ecosystem applications. The threshold of 10 million migrated users was a crucial milestone, ensuring a stable and secure rollout.

The Significance of the Pi Mainnet Launch

The transition to Open Mainnet represents a major shift for Pi Coin. During its ‘enclosed’ phase, transactions were restricted within the Pi ecosystem. Now, with the firewall lifted, Pi Coin can integrate with external blockchains, allowing users to trade on platforms such as OKX, Bitget, and CoinDCX. There is also growing speculation that Binance may list Pi Coin, following a community poll that concluded on February 27, 2025.

From a technical perspective, Pi Network boasts an advanced blockchain capable of processing transactions 120 times faster than Bitcoin, with a block time of just five seconds compared to Bitcoin’s ten minutes. However, of the 6.1 billion mined Pi tokens, only 1 billion are currently available for trading. The remaining supply is locked in users’ wallets for extended periods to stabilise the market—a strategy that is now being tested amid the price drop.

Wild Price Swings Shake Investor Confidence

The launch has been overshadowed by extreme price fluctuations. CoinGecko data shows that Pi Coin’s price tumbled from $2 to $0.80 within hours of trading—an all-too-familiar pattern in the volatile world of cryptocurrency. Early adopters cashing out en masse placed immense downward pressure on the asset’s value, despite the restricted supply of tradable tokens.

Pre-launch trading of Pi Coin’s IOUs (I Owe You tokens) on exchanges such as HTX had shown erratic movements, soaring from $49 to $92 following the February 12 confirmation before declining sharply. The post-launch price action underscores the stark contrast between speculative enthusiasm and real-world market behaviour, leaving investors uncertain about Pi’s trajectory.

Despite the rocky start, Pi Coin holds promise, particularly in regions such as Nigeria and Africa, where mobile-first solutions align with high smartphone adoption rates. The network already features around 80 community-built applications, including Map of Pi and 1pi Mall, with many more in development. This growing ecosystem could drive long-term adoption, but for now, all eyes remain on whether Pi Coin can regain stability in the unpredictable crypto landscape.