The top 5 facts about Pi Network: Launch price, data leak, restricted countries and more

Pi Network's Open Network (mainnet) debut on February 20, 2025 has sparked much discussion about its potential listing price. It is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated cryptocurrency launches in recent history.

Pi Network.

Pi Network

As we approach the mainnet launch, these are the top five Pi Network facts that every user should know before investing.

1. Pi Coin tokenomics 

The overall supply of Pi is capped at 100 billion tokens, which are allotted as follows:

Mining Rewards (65%): Approximately 65 billion Pi are set aside for rewarding users that contribute to the network through activities like as mobile mining, referrals, and running nodes.

Ecosystem Building (10%): Approximately 10 billion Pi are set aside to fund community efforts, the development of decentralized apps (dApps), and other ecosystem-enhancing projects.

Liquidity Pool (5%): Approximately 5 billion Pi are reserved to offer liquidity for transactions inside the Pi ecosystem.

Core Team Allocation (20%): The remaining 20 billion Pi are assigned to the Pi Core Team as recompense for their development efforts and ongoing network maintenance. This allotment is subject to a vesting schedule that coincides with the distribution to the community.

The Pi Core Team has not publicly released the actual number of tokens that will be unlocked when Pi Network's mainnet launches. 

As of December 2024, around 562 million Pi coins had been unlocked and were in circulation. 

Notably, a large number of Pioneers (people that mine Pi using the mobile app) have elected to keep their tokens locked up for lengthy durations. Many are even opting for a three-year commitment.

2. Pi Network was accused of a data leak

In May 2021, reports surfaced of a large data leak including over 17 terabytes of personal information from nearly 10,000 Vietnamese residents. The stolen information includes identification card numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Meanwhile, the individual responsible for the breach claimed that the data came from Pi Network. The project, however, denied the allegations. 

According to the project, Yoti, a third-party provider, handled the KYC processes. Yoti further said that Vietnamese identification cards were not saved on its systems. 

"Pi Network or its third-party KYC provider has nothing to do with the recent alleged data leak of Vietnamese national IDs. Pi Network never asked for or collected such data and our third-party KYC provider does not accept this type of ID documentation," the project wrote back in 2021. 

Pi Network later conducted an internal review and discovered no indication of a data breach on their end. Yoti also denied being involved in the data breach. 

3. Pi was involved in China's largest pyramid scheme

Pi Network has come under fire in China, with suspicions that it works as a multi-level marketing (MLM) or pyramid scam. The platform operates on a referral-based structure, allowing users to raise their mining rate by introducing others. 

In July 2023, the Public Security Bureau of Hengyang City, Hunan Province, declared Pi Coin a hoax. The Bureau cited that Pi Network uses a tiered invitation process. This creates layers of participation, with recruiters benefiting from bringing in new members.

"PI Network has nothing to do with the real project and will soon rug. Be aware because CABAL is trying to make a meta from the Pi Network 2025 brand," analyst MASTR wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The model is similar to the features of pyramid schemes, which are banned under Chinese law. Several industry professionals, including Colin Wu and AB Kuai.Dong, have cautioned about the legal concerns of dealing with Pi Network in China. 

Pi Network, in response, has restricted Pi coin trade in specific countries, including mainland China. Exchanges such as OKX verified that Pi Network sought an isolated listing technique.

"PI is the largest pyramid scheme in the Chinese-speaking world. Since mobile phones can be used for digging directly, the threshold is low. As the number of users increases, mining rewards will gradually decrease. But the disadvantage is that it involves pyramid schemes and gambling, and there are many cases involving police in various places," wrote AB Kuai.Dong.

4. Pi Network is among the top five most popular cryptocurrency projects

Despite the lack of a mainnet launch and ongoing delays, Pi Network is presently the fifth most popular cryptocurrency project on X (previously Twitter). The project presently has 3.7 million followers, surpassing Ethereum, Solana, and other major blockchain networks. 

It is also one of the most popular cryptocurrency applications in South Korea and India. The project's mobile app has received over 100 million downloads from the Google Play store. 

5. Pi coin's launch price 

The Pi network's OTC (over-the-counter) price is $2 per Pi token. This represents peer-to-peer transactions in which users swap Pi without using exchanges.

The current IOU (I owe you) price is around $64. IOUs are speculative prices on exchanges like as HTX (previously Huobi), where traders predict future prices before Pi is traded.

Most significantly, Pi Network has over 45 million active members, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency communities. Social media activity and search patterns show a considerable retail interest.

Users have set voluntary lock-up times, therefore a big portion of Pi is currently locked. Given these variables, top crypto analysts expect that Pi currency will trade between $30 and $50 on the mainnet launch day.