Pi Network (PI) Surges Over 25% Ahead of March 14 Migration

Pi (PI), the native cryptocurrency of the Pi Network, has surged more than 25% in the last 24 hours as market participants express excitement about the protocol’s upcoming migration to a mainnet.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, PI has rallied 27% from $1.37 to $1.74 before retracing slightly to $1.60 at the time of writing. Pi’s market cap is up 15.27% to $11.47 billion, while the asset’s 24-hour trading volume is hovering above $658.5 million, indicating a 35% surge.

Pi’s price movement in the past 24 hours is the opposite of the entire crypto market, which has been struggling for the last few weeks. Many crypto assets have been in the red, amassing double-digit losses as investors scramble to save their capital. Even PI is not exempt because the digital asset is down by almost 20% weekly.

What is the Pi Network?

Pi Network is a project that allows users to mine PI through a mobile app. The project has been touted as a social cryptocurrency and developer platform created for widespread accessibility and real-world utility. Mining PI enables users to support applications built within the blockchain ecosystem. These applications are at least 100 and span several sectors, including decentralized finance (DeFi) and gaming.

Some Stanford graduates founded the network in 2019, aiming to solve the challenge of accessibility in the crypto space. Instead of Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which requires technical knowledge and expensive hardware, Pi deploys a mobile-based mining system.

The network uses a Stellar Consensus Protocol and enables users, or Pioneers, as they are called, to build trust circles by nominating 3-5 reliable contacts. This creates an interconnected web of verified Pioneers who form a global trust graph that enhances the network’s security. They also validate transactions on Pi without the high level of computing power needed on PoW networks.

Notably, Pi has a system that rewards different types of contributions to the network. Users earn base rewards for daily check-ins, app usage, and PI lockups. Pioneers also receive additional rewards for growing their trusted circles and running full nodes on computers.

Pi’s Launch And The Upcoming Migration

After six years of building, Pi launched its mainnet on February 19, allowing Pioneers to transfer their PI externally. Several leading crypto exchanges, including OKX, Gate.io, Bitget, and CoinDCX, listed PI, enabling users to trade their tokens.

Interestingly, PI surged more than 5,600% following its mainnet debut, with the asset’s trading volume rallying by at least 595%. During this euphoria, the cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $2.98, according to data on CoinMarketCap.

It is worth mentioning that not all crypto exchanges received Pi with open arms. The world’s largest, Binance, conducted a community vote regarding listing the asset but has yet to make an official announcement, even though 86% voted in favor of the listing. Bybit is unlikely to list the token because the platform’s CEO has tagged the project as a scam.

Meanwhile, Pi is yet to finalize its transition from testnet to mainnet – the project intends to do that by March 14. Pioneers have until 8:00 am UTC on March 14 to verify their PI balances and claim their assets on the mainnet. The Pi team had to move the deadline for the migration from February 28 to March 14 to ensure inclusivity, fairness, and maximum participation in the ecosystem.