Pi Network Officially Launches Open Network Mainnet: The Journey From Expectation to Market Reality

After 6 years of waiting, the Pi Network community witnessed a significant milestone as the Open Network Mainnet was launched on February 20, 2025. This event is not only a turning point for the project but also an opportunity for millions of loyal 'Pioneers' - those who have been mining tokens for many years - to finally access and trade their PI digital assets. Launch Event and Affirmations from the Team According to the announcement from the Pi Network development team released on February 12, the launch of Mainnet has promised to usher in a new era for the Pi ecosystem. In the announcement on account X (previously Twitter), the official team affirmed: “Pioneers, Open Network will launch at 8 AM 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 applications like never before.” This message has generated great excitement, however, shortly after, the market showed rather negative reactions. Market Reaction: Calm and Selling Pressure Right after the Mainnet launch, the price of PI coin made a strong start with an initial price surpassing the $1 threshold - even reaching $1.47. However, shortly thereafter, a selling wave hit, causing a sudden 15% price drop. This indicates that despite the long-awaited anticipation within the community, the market reality has unforeseen fluctuations, especially when a series of investors have an early opportunity to "take profits" after years of waiting. More notably, the IOU version of PI - used as a 'placeholder' token before the official Mainnet launch - has come under immense pressure, plummeting by as much as 97% in the past 24 hours. This decline reflects a shift in market focus as users transition to trading with the ecosystem's official token. Token Allocation Structure And Its Impact On Supply According to information from the development team, the maximum total supply of PI is set at 100 billion tokens with the following allocation structure: 65% for miners ( participating in mining)10% for ecosystem development5% for liquidity20% for core development team However, only about 9.7 billion PI have been circulating at the current time. This indicates potential for increasing supply in the future as reserve tokens are gradually released, which could increase selling pressure and push prices lower if demand does not keep up. Challenges And Prospects Of Development The launch of the Mainnet marks an important transition for the Pi Network, but it also comes with no shortage of concerns from the community. One of the hot spots is the requirement to verify the identity (KYC), which has already caused quite a bit of controversy. On one hand, this is seen as a necessary step to increase transparency and legality for the project, but on the other hand, it creates barriers for users - especially those who prefer anonymity - when they want to participate in free transactions. Furthermore, the big question for the project is: Can Pi Network transition from the initial "hype" state to a practical application in real life? Success in attracting the integration of businesses and applications outside the ecosystem will be a key factor in determining the real value of PI in the long term. Conclusion Although the launch of the Open Network Mainnet has come on schedule and is considered a significant achievement after many years of development, the market reaction indicates that community expectations may be facing practical challenges. The initial selling wave, along with the sharp decline of the IOU version, indicates that the market is in a 'price discovery' phase (price discovery). In this context, the prospect of Pi Network depends heavily on its ability to transform into a practical and valuable ecosystem, attracting the acceptance of new businesses and users. If the demand for using PI truly increases, the initial price reduction may only be temporary and open up opportunities for strong future recovery. Conversely, if supply pressure outweighs demand, PI may continue to face difficulties in stabilizing its market value. Pi Network is at a crucial turning point: from the promising phase to stepping into the real market. Only time will tell whether this project can sustain its development momentum, and the community will continue to closely monitor the next developments in the PI ecosystem.