The mysterious identity of the "father" of Pi coin

After Pi Network was listed, the value of the Pi coin unexpectedly plummeted, causing controversy in the community. Nicolas Kokkalis, the man behind this project, has also been 'missing' for the past 4 years. "Who is the father" of Pi Network? Recently, Pi Network has been officially listed on the exchanges. After 6 years of launch, Pi Network can now be publicly traded, attracting great attention from investors. However, upon listing, contrary to price increase expectations, Pi unexpectedly faced selling pressure and is currently trading around 0.6 USDT (virtual currency at a price equivalent to USD). Launched in 2019, Pi Network began to make a splash from early 2021 thanks to the promotion that allows to "mine" cryptocurrency directly on the phone through the app of the same name. However, this project has always encountered many conflicting opinions from the cryptocurrency community. Many people doubt the true value of Pi, even accusing it of being a multi-level marketing scam that exploits users to collect data. It's worth noting that Nicolas Kokkalis, who is believed to be behind the Pi Network project, has not appeared in any media for the past 4 years. The official X account of Pi Network is still active, but the co-founders have long ceased. Nicolas Kokkalis, considered the "soul" of the project, has also not appeared since 2021, sparking many speculations. According to Coin Gabbar, a website specializing in cryptocurrency news, Kokkalis is said to have been absent from the company for a long time and may have resigned. Although Pi Network did not comment, it immediately caused waves in the community. According to information on the Pi Network project's website, Kokkalis is a co-founder along with two others, Chengdiao Fan and Vincent McPhillip. Kokkalis serves as the head of the technology department, Chengdiao Fan is the head of the product department, and McPhillip is in charge of the community. McPhillip later left the project in February 2021. Kokkalis is introduced as a Ph.D. at Stanford University and the instructor of Stanford's first decentralized blockchain application class named CS359B in 2018. His work focuses on integrating distributed systems and computer interaction, a key feature when dealing with digital currencies. According to Coin Gabbar, this movement can be associated with the "father" of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. He appeared in 2007 when bitcoin had not yet been born, and then mobilized developers to work together on the project. After withdrawing from 2012 to the present, no one really knows Nakamoto's identity. According to experts, Nakamoto's absence is good for bitcoin, as it will ensure the security and decentralization of this digital currency. Therefore, many experts also believe that the disappearance of the Pi Network founders serves a similar purpose. "Father" does not know the face of "son" It is noteworthy that there seems to be no information related to the Pi Network project on Kokkalis's LinkedIn profile. He is introduced as being born in Greece but living in Canada and later in the United States. In addition to teaching and studying at Stanford University, Kokkalis is also a co-founder of several companies such as Gameyola and StartX in 2010. Since its establishment from 2011 to date, StartX has helped 1,300 startups succeed, including over 700 unicorn companies like Branch, Lime, Life360, Patreon, Poynt, Kodiak Sciences... StartX's investors and partners include Amazon, Google Cloud, GitHub... Stanford University and Stanford Health alone have invested $200 million to fund members of the StartX community. 2 startups are rated as very small but are still mentioned while Pi Network is not. "The question is, why is a project that attracts tens of millions of users like Pi Network not mentioned by Kokkalis in his LinkedIn profile, a platform that most people pay attention to? For a scientist like Kokkalis, this information is even more essential," Medium commented. Kokkalis' most recent appearance was in June 2022, when a video of him was posted on the Pi Network app stating that the project had successfully verified one million identities (KYC). To date, he has not made any further appearances, either in the media or in connection with the project. Not only Kokkalis, co-founder Chengdiao Fan also has not much activity. Her X account is provided on the Pi Network website also has no activity when accessed According to posts on Reddit, some people believe that Kokkalis has quietly left the project. "Kokkalis does not see Pi Network as a serious project. He is running away in silence," Mercury account wrote. "Pi Network has received a lot of advertising money from tens of millions of members. Now is the time for them to gradually withdraw. A scam project", commented by the account named JoYu. The Pi Network team, also known as the Pi Core Team, has not made any comments.