Pi Network (PI) Just Caught a Bounce, but the Real Story May Be What Happens After the Unlocks Taper Off

Pi Network’s (PI) native currency just caught a short-term bounce, but the real story may be what happens after the unlocks taper off.

After weeks of sliding, Pi Network’s (PI) native currency rose 5.5% in the past 24 hours to around $0.61, outperforming most high-market-cap cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL) over the same stretch.

However, this 5% increase is dwarfed by Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) ongoing bullish momentum, which pushed the coin near $1.80, an increase of over 34% in the last 24 hours.

As CryptoMode reported, VIRTUAL’s price surge comes after Binance.US opened trading for the popular AI agent token, pushing its market capitalization close to $1 billion. When projects get added to an exchange like Binance, especially the popular ones, they often blow up in price shortly after.

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Pi Network, which, despite the Binance community voting “Yes” to adding Pi Coin to its ecosystem, the exchange has remained silent.

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On the surface, it looks like a typical low-cap reflex move for PI. But for a token that’s been weighed down by relentless supply unlocks, even a modest pump triggers speculation.

The chatter is quite predictable. Some users are calling the $0.50–$0.70 range a good accumulation zone, declaring “time for a pump,” throwing out a $5 target with zero resistance from the usual hype accounts.

Another one, MOON JEFF, noted that “someone is buying hard,” citing the chart but offering no evidence.

Hahaha looks like $PI is going to $5 now.

The chart is bullish. Some one is buying hard. And withdrawing from exchanges. Send it to 5#PiNetwork pic.twitter.com/uyFZL2vS1H

— MOON JEFF 🪐 (@CRYPTOAD00) April 30, 2025

Meanwhile, Pi News suggested PI could “go beyond your imagination anytime,” citing ALPACA’s 2,000% spike, if that kind of move has anything to do with it.

However, Alpaca did get listed on Binance, not PI.

Underneath the noise is a more grounded catalyst: the unlocks are slowing, according to PiScan. April 30 saw over 11 million PI tokens hit circulation — a wave of liquidity that likely helped suppress price action through late April. The last day with unlocks above 10 million is May 8. After that, release schedules start dropping off, and by month’s end, daily issuance is expected to fall below 6 million.

That cooling effect matters. With a current supply nearing 7 billion, and over 70% still locked in mining rewards, even minor changes in unlock velocity can shift sentiment —especially in a project that is still recovering from post-hype exhaustion.

If there’s a window for Pi Network to move cleanly, it’s opening now. But whether it’s a breakout or another stall depends on whether that “someone” buying hard is retail fantasy or actual capital.