Pi Network Crashes 50% After Mainnet Launch, Top Rivals to Consider

Pi Network's price crashed on Thursday, and the selling pressure continued on Friday as the much-anticipated mainnet launch disappointed investors.

After an initial surge following its mainnet launch, the Pi coin (PI) price plunged by over 50%, wiping out nearly $6 billion in market value.

According to CoinMarketCap, the coin’s market capitalization initially stood at $10 billion before dropping to $4.1 billion. The selling pressure continued on Friday as investors were left disappointed by the much-anticipated launch.

Our earlier analysis predicted this price crash, citing the increased selling by pioneers and the tendency for recent airdrops to crash.

Here are some of the top Pi Network rivals or alternatives to consider:

Bitcoin (BTC)

Pi Network was conceived as a potential alternative to Bitcoin, offering smart contract capabilities and an ecosystem of dApps. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has been one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies, rising from below $1 in 2009 to highs of $109,200 this year.

Bitcoin has strong fundamentals, with its ETFs seeing good inflows and exchange balances dropping. It has also formed a cup and handle pattern and a bullish flag that could push it higher over time.

Binance Coin (BNB)

Another Pi Network rival to consider is BNB, given its strong fundamentals and technical indicators. Its ecosystem is expanding, supported by dApps like PancakeSwap and Thena. Just recently, the volume handled in its DEX networks surpassed that of Ethereum and Solana.

It is also highly deflationary, with the network burning BNB tokens worth over $1 billion each quarter. The BNB price has also formed a cup-and-handle pattern that could propel it above $1,000 in the near term.

Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink is a leading alternative to Pi Network due to its strong market position. As the largest oracle network in the crypto industry, it provides essential services to major platforms like AAVE and Compound.

Chainlink is also a big player in the Real World Asset tokenization industry through its Cross Chain Interoperability Protocol. CCIP is a protocol that facilitates communication and asset transfers across various blockchains.

The project has secured partnerships with major institutions, including Swift, UBS, ANZ, World Liberty Financial, and Coinbase. There is also growing speculation that the SEC may approve a spot LINK ETF later this year.

Polkadot (DOT)

A more contrarian Pi coin rival, Polkadot, has seen its price crash recently. Its main catalyst is the ongoing transition to Polkadot 2.0, which will introduce developer-friendly features. With Polkadot 2.0, one will not need to go through the prolonged and expensive parachain auction to build on the blockchain.

From a technical perspective, Polkadot has formed a quadruple-bottom pattern, a well-known bullish indicator. It is also in the accumulation phase of the Wyckoff Theory, which usually precedes a markup phase. This could drive its price to the 50% retracement level at $30, indicating a 500% increase from current levels.