Pi Coin News: Pi Network v23 Upgrade Boosts Coin Price, What Are the Risks Behind the Whale Accumulating Nearly 400 Million Coins?

Pi Coin prices recently broke away from the trend and established an independent market, rising 3.52% in a single week amidst overall crypto market fluctuations, currently trading at approximately $0.2122. The immediate catalyst for this increase is a major upgrade to the Pi Network v23 mainnet protocol, which integrates Stellar Core and introduces Rust smart contracts, aiming to enhance transaction speed and security.

Meanwhile, on-chain data shows that a top whale continues to accumulate, with holdings approaching 400 million Pi Coins, worth over $82 million. However, a third-party application within the ecosystem, PINIX, has launched a “cloud mining” product with an annualized yield exceeding 1,500%, sparking significant controversy and casting a shadow of high risk over this technically driven optimistic sentiment.

Technical Narrative Drive: Can the v23 Upgrade Become a Benchmark for Pi Ecosystem?

In the cryptocurrency space, short-term price fluctuations often require solid fundamental narratives to support them. For Pi Coin, the core story behind recent price increases is undoubtedly the official launch of its mainnet Protocol v23. This has been described by the project team as one of the “most important milestones in history,” with its technical implications far beyond a simple version iteration. The key aspect of this upgrade is the deep integration with Stellar Core v23.0.1. Known for its efficient cross-border payment settlement capabilities, this integration signifies Pi Network’s attempt to transform from a mobile mining experiment into a settlement layer with real financial infrastructure capabilities. Post-upgrade, transaction confirmation times are significantly shortened, and network processing capacity is improved, laying a foundation for future high-volume, high-security transactions.

More imaginatively, the introduction of Rust smart contracts is noteworthy. Rust is widely used in building reliable, high-performance financial-grade applications due to its excellent performance and memory safety. Its deployment clears technical barriers for developers to build complex decentralized applications on the Pi network. The project team has announced plans to launch a native decentralized exchange (DEX) in early 2026, which will serve as the first benchmark to test its smart contract capabilities and ecosystem activity. Official data shows that Pi Network’s mainnet users have exceeded 15.8 million, and this large user base is potential fuel for ecosystem development. However, how to convert “users” into “active participants” will depend on the technical tools provided by the v23 upgrade.

Nevertheless, having a technical blueprint alone is not enough; market trust requires time to build. Pi Coin’s current price is only about $0.2122, far from its all-time high of $3.6, with a market cap of approximately $1.76 billion. This indicates that despite the grand narrative, the market still harbors deep doubts about its actual implementation and ability to generate real economic value. The v23 upgrade is a powerful technical signal, but whether it can truly move Pi Network from a “visionary” stage to a “clear utility” stage still depends on subsequent DEX operation data, the prosperity of DApps, and the continuous growth of on-chain transaction volume.

Pi Coin current market status and key data overview

• Price and Market Cap: Current price around $0.2122, market cap about $1.76 billion, 24-hour trading volume approximately $11 million, liquidity relatively thin.
• Technical Upgrade: v23 protocol completed, Stellar Core integrated, Rust smart contracts enabled, laying the groundwork for DEX and DApp ecosystem.
• On-chain Activity: The largest holding address continues to accumulate, currently holding over 391.5 million coins worth over $82 million, approaching the 400 million milestone.
• Controversy: Third-party app PINIX launched “cloud mining,” claiming a 30-day cycle return rate of 151.314% (annualized over 1,500%), community questions its sustainability and risks.
• Technical Analysis: Key support at $0.1942 (tested multiple times without breaking), recent breakthrough of $0.20 resistance, short-term resistance targets at $0.23 and $0.25.

Market Dynamics: The Triangle of Technical Breakthroughs, Whale Accumulation, and Weak Liquidity

From a pure market behavior perspective, Pi Coin recently presents a complex picture woven from technical breakthroughs, whale signals, and overall liquidity challenges. On the technical side, Pi Coin successfully broke through the important psychological threshold and previous trading cluster at $0.20 on the 4-hour chart. The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicates a bullish crossover, and the relative strength index (RSI) is around 60, suggesting buying momentum is building without entering overbought territory, leaving room for further upward movement. Most critically, the price repeatedly found support at $0.1942, forming a potential double bottom pattern, which reinforces the technical significance of this level as a recent “watershed” of strength and weakness.

The most striking signals come from on-chain activity. A marked whale investor has been persistently accumulating Pi Coin with remarkable determination. Earlier this year, this address frequently transferred hundreds of thousands of Pi between major centralized exchanges (CEXs) and self-custody wallets, with total holdings reaching 391.5 million coins, steadily approaching the 400 million mark. At current prices, this asset is valued at over $82 million. The whale’s steadfast holding is often seen as a long-term bullish “bet,” especially given the large concentration of holdings (the address holds a significant proportion). Its behavior may be based on expectations of ecological development after the v23 upgrade or a strategic move to list Pi Coin on more top-tier exchanges.

However, behind this prosperity lies a critical weakness: extremely thin liquidity. Despite its high market cap ranking, Pi Coin’s 24-hour trading volume often hovers around $11 million, which is vastly disproportionate to its over $1.76 billion market cap. Low liquidity is a double-edged sword: on one hand, it allows whales’ buying and selling to significantly influence prices and potentially push prices upward; on the other hand, it means market depth is insufficient, and negative news or large sell-offs can cause sharp price crashes, making it difficult for ordinary investors to enter or exit without impacting the price substantially. This market structure inherently makes Pi Coin more volatile, and investment risks should be fully recognized.

Ecosystem Under Currents: Is PINIX’s Ultra-High Yield Mining a Honey Trap or a Trap?

Just as Pi Network attempts to reshape its image through technological upgrades, a third-party app called PINIX has attracted community attention with a highly controversial approach. Recently, PINIX announced an upgrade to its “cloud mining” product, promising users a return of up to 151.314% over a 30-day cycle. Calculated annually, this yields an astonishing over 1,500%. The project claims that depositing 1,000 Pi Coins can yield over 1,500 Pi Coins after 30 days, including principal.

This news instantly split the Pi community. Some users are excited, viewing it as a quick way to increase Pi assets, especially since transfers within the mainnet are still limited. However, more rational community members and observers have sounded alarms. In traditional finance and crypto, promising such high and stable returns is almost invariably a hallmark of Ponzi schemes or high-risk investment schemes. Their business models are usually unsustainable, heavily relying on new investor inflows to pay early investors’ returns. Once new funds slow down, the entire system can collapse rapidly.

PINIX has yet to provide audited financial reports or clear explanations of its sources of ultra-high yields, merely vaguely stating it aims to “improve mining efficiency.” This appears to contradict Pi Network’s core philosophy of low-energy “contribution proof” mining via mobile devices. The Pi core team has not issued any official comments or warnings regarding PINIX, further increasing investor confusion and risk. For any Pi Coin holder, it’s crucial to recognize: participating in such high-yield projects is essentially high-risk speculation, not mining, with a significant possibility of losing the principal. The ecosystem’s healthy development depends on technological innovations like the v23 upgrade and real applications, not on financial bubbles that could destroy community trust.

Future Scenarios: Three Potential Paths for Pi Coin and Investor Strategies

At this juncture, Pi Coin’s future could develop along several very different paths, and investors should adjust their expectations and strategies based on key signals.

Path 1: Tech-Driven Revival (Optimistic Scenario). This is the script supported by project advocates. The v23 upgrade succeeds, the Rust-based DEX launches as scheduled in early 2026 and performs stably, attracting the first wave of real DeFi applications and users. On-chain transaction volume steadily increases, and whales continue to hold or even increase their positions. In this case, the price may first challenge the recent resistance at $0.25, and if it breaks through, the next target could be higher, such as $0.30 or more. Validation signals for this path include daily active users on the DEX, total locked value, and trading volume.

Path 2: Consolidation and Waiting (Neutral Scenario). The technical upgrade does not immediately translate into market enthusiasm; ecosystem applications develop slowly, and Pi Coin’s price remains within a broad range of $0.1942 to $0.25, oscillating sideways. Whales may stop accumulating or even start to slightly reduce holdings, market attention wanes, and trading volume remains low. This “dormant period” could last several months until the next major ecosystem development (such as key partnerships or listing on mainstream CEXs). For investors, this means patience is required.

Path 3: Risk Exposure and Downtrend (Pessimistic Scenario). The most concerning scenario. Triggers could include: 1) PINIX or similar high-yield platforms collapsing, causing panic and damaging Pi ecosystem credibility; 2) unforeseen major technical issues after v23 upgrade; 3) whales starting large-scale sell-offs. If the price drops below the key support at $0.1942, the technical pattern will be broken, potentially initiating a new downtrend, with support levels further down.

For investors interested in Pi Coin, a rational approach is to treat this as a high-risk “observation investment” or small-position gamble. Use $0.1942 as a key risk control threshold. If the price remains above this level and the ecosystem shows positive progress (such as successful DEX launch), cautious optimism is warranted; if the price falls below or negative events like PINIX collapse occur, risk mitigation should be considered. Remember, Pi Network is still in a critical transition from concept to fully mature product, and its path will inevitably be volatile and uncertain. When chasing the stars of technological narratives, never be fooled by short-term illusions of high returns—preserving capital is always the first rule in exploring the unknown.