Pi Network's Value Crashes While Founders Stay Billionaires

The rollercoaster of the cryptocurrency world has taken another sharp dip—this time it's the Pi Network that's grabbing headlines.

Cryptocurrency is known for its ups and downs, but the past few months have seen a stark shift in the market’s mood. While Bitcoin continues to break records, another cryptocurrency project, Pi Network, has seen its value plummet.

After reaching a peak valuation of $19 billion earlier this year, Pi Network has seen a nearly 80% crash in just six months. By June 14, the platform’s valuation had dropped to $4.48 billion.

This rapid decline is even more striking considering that Pi token reached its highest point in February, only to see a 766% decrease from $1.43 to $0.16 (at the time of writing).

However, amidst this collapse, an astonishing twist unfolds: the co-founders of Pi Network remain crypto billionaires on paper. This resilience to the market downturn is due to the founders’ early allocations of tokens before public migration began.

According to the network’s tokenomics, these founders, Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan, received a large portion of the 65 billion Pi tokens allocated to Pioneers—the term used for Pi Network’s user base—before the migration started. This early access, though currently locked under a long-term vesting schedule, ensures their net worth remains in the billions despite the token price crashing and the overall market cap plummeting.

Of course, these tokens are locked and cannot be immediately liquidated, and the paper value is based on current trading rates, giving the illusion of immense wealth.

Moreover, this vast sum of tokens will be released gradually until May 2028, part of a broader strategy to control the token’s value and prevent market flooding. At present, around 131 million tokens are released each month, which, at current prices, amounts to approximately $87 million.

This controlled release aims to protect the token’s worth and ensure a sustainable long-term growth plan. However, it also means the founders’ wealth, like that of other token holders, remains largely inaccessible in the short term.

To understand Pi Network’s tokenomics, it’s crucial to note that the entire token structure is designed to synchronize with user migration to the Mainnet. As Pioneers migrate their mined Pi tokens, other allocations—including those to the Core Team, Foundation, and liquidity pools—become accessible proportionally.

• All token buckets are tied to the pace of Mainnet migration. If migration lags, so does the release of tokens for the team and other stakeholders. This ensures fairness, preventing any party from gaining an outsized advantage over the community.

• To determine the Effective Total Supply at any time, the total amount of migrated rewards is divided by 65%. The rest of the supply—Foundation, Team, Liquidity—is then capped based on this ratio. For instance, if 13 billion community tokens have migrated (20% of 65 billion), only 20% of the other buckets can also become active.

This tight interdependency means that no group can dump tokens prematurely, and real value is only generated through genuine user adoption and migration. It’s a safeguard against speculative abuse and a bid to preserve long-term value.

Interestingly, even though all 100 billion Pi tokens were technically minted at genesis, very few are currently circulating in the ecosystem. The network depends heavily on Pioneers completing KYC verification and migrating their tokens. Until then, these paper valuations remain just that—paper.

While headlines may emphasize the founders’ billionaire status, the reality is more nuanced. Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan do control massive amounts of Pi tokens, but most of this wealth is inaccessible now due to the structured lock-up system.

The Pi Foundation itself controls 10 billion tokens, which at current prices total approximately $6.6 billion. These tokens, too, follow the same vesting and migration-tied unlock rules.

The implication is twofold: Pi’s developers are making a long-term bet on their network’s success, and users must likewise invest not just money, but time and participation. It’s a tokenomics game of patience and persistence.

Pi Network’s tokens have seen a significant crash in recent months, as the platform’s market cap plunged from $19 billion to $4.48 billion.

This rapid decline is a result of declining investor interest, slow Mainnet migration, and the broader cryptocurrency market adjustments, which saw a collective decline in value.

Despite this setback, Pi Network’s founders remain billionaires due to their early allocations of tokens before public migration began.

According to the network’s tokenomics, these founders received a large portion of the 65 billion Pi tokens allocated to Pioneers—the term used for Pi Network’s user base—before the migration started. This early access, currently locked by a long-term vesting schedule, ensures their net worth remains in the