Pi Network (PI) Faces Intense Scrutiny Following a Sharp Price Decline

Pi Network, the cryptocurrency project with a reported user base approaching 60 million, is facing intense scrutiny

Cryptocurrency project Pi Network is facing intense scrutiny following a sharp price decline and a division among community members.

What Happened: Pi Network (CRYPTO: PI) price fell 14% from its previous trading range of around $0.74 to reach lows of $0.63. The token is currently trading at $0.68, entering a major demand zone after the 14% drop. Each time the token dropped to this level in the past, it was followed by increased buying volumes.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) also plunged to an oversold level of 28, which could signal a trend reversal. The last time Pi Network was this oversold, the price bounced by 99% within hours.

The token faced stiff resistance at $0.7588 before its decline. It then established support at $0.7306 but broke through this level dramatically when a death cross formed on the MACD indicator at $0.69, triggering the sharp drop to $0.6327.

Since the initial crash, Pi has corrected upward to its current level of $0.68. Analysts suggest that if further downward movement occurs, $0.66 will be a key level to hold.

Why It's Important: Pi Network is preparing to transition from its Open Network to the Open Mainnet, which will be a crucial stage in the project's development.

The project's slow token release mechanism, growing utility through applications like .pi domains, and massive user base are strengths that could help it avoid a similar fate to Mantra (OM), which saw over $5.5 billion in market value vanish within an hour.

However, critics have pointed out several issues that need urgent attention. The lack of transparency has prevented Pi from securing listings on major exchanges like Binance (NASDAQ:BNB) and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), which require access to an auditable mainnet before listing tokens.

This limitation has hindered Pi's reach despite its large community.

Top-tier exchanges usually prefer to list tokens that offer broad accessibility and liquidity.

Community members are also discussing the tokenomics of Pi, with data from Pi Explorer showing that the top three wallets belong to the Pi Core Team and hold more than 67 billion PI tokens—over half of the maximum supply of 100 billion.

This concentration of tokens fuels concerns about potential price manipulation and centralization. For a project that promotes itself as community-driven, this token distribution seems at odds with its stated values.

The token unlocks are staggered over several years to ensure a balanced release of tokens into the market. This approach is designed to minimize extreme price volatility and maintain a sustainable value for Pi in the long term.

The project's founders—Dr. Nicolas Kokkalis, Chengdiao and the Pi Core Team—have a significant portion of the total supply, which is common in early-stage blockchain projects where the founders contribute to the project's development and technical architecture.

This structure provides them with administrative privileges and a portion of the newly unlocked tokens, according to the project's whitepaper.

What Next: The crypto community will be closely following the developments of Pi Network as it transitions to the Open Mainnet.

The project's ability to address transparency concerns, adjust its tokenomics, and secure listings on major exchanges will determine whether it can continue to grow and reach new all-time highs.

If Pi falls further and breaks the $0.6 support, it could continue down to the next key Fibonacci level, which is around $0.5.

On the other hand, if the bulls take over again and push the price above the $0.76 resistance, it could rally to the next Fibonacci level, which is around $1.

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