The launch of the Pi Network Mainnet on February 20, 2025, has generated much speculation about its potential listing price. This is becoming one of the most anticipated launch events in recent cryptocurrency history. As we approach the mainnet launch, here are the top five facts about Pi Network that every user needs to know before investing.

Pi Coin Tokenomics

The total supply of Pi is capped at 100 billion tokens, allocated as follows:

  • Mining rewards (65%): Approximately 65 billion Pi are allocated to reward users contributing to the network through activities like mobile mining, referrals, and running nodes.

  • Ecosystem development (10%): About 10 billion Pi are allocated to support community initiatives, develop decentralized applications (dApps), and other projects enhancing the ecosystem.

  • Liquidity fund (5%): About 5 billion Pi are allocated to provide liquidity for transactions within the Pi ecosystem.

  • Allocation to the core team (20%): The remaining 20 billion Pi are allocated to the Core Team of Pi as a reward for their efforts in developing and maintaining the network. This allocation follows a vesting schedule appropriate for community distribution.

As Pi Network approaches its mainnet launch, the Core Team of Pi has not publicly disclosed the exact number of tokens that will be unlocked at that time.

As of December 2024, approximately 562 million Pi coins have been unlocked and are in circulation.

Notably, a large number of Pioneers (users mining Pi via the mobile app) have chosen to lock their tokens for a long time. Many have even opted for a three-year lock-up period.

Pi Network Accused of Data Leak

In May 2021, there were reports of a significant data leak involving approximately 17 gigabytes of personal information from about 10,000 Vietnamese citizens. The compromised data included ID card information, home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Meanwhile, the party responsible for the leak claims that the data was taken from Pi Network. However, the project has denied these allegations. According to the project, a third-party service, Yoti, conducted their KYC processes. Yoti also stated that Vietnamese identity cards are not stored on their servers.

“Pi Network or its third-party KYC provider is not related to the recent leak of Vietnam's national identity card data. Pi Network has never requested or collected such data, and our third-party KYC provider does not accept this type of ID document,” the project wrote in 2021.

Subsequently, an internal investigation by Pi Network found no evidence of a data leak on their part. Yoti also denied any involvement in the data leak.

Pi Has Engaged in the Largest Pyramid Scheme in China

Pi Network has faced significant scrutiny in China, with allegations that it operates as a multi-level marketing (MLM) or pyramid scheme. The platform employs a referral system where users can accelerate mining by inviting others.

In July 2023, the Public Security Bureau of Hunan Province, Changde City, labeled Pi Coin as a scam. This bureau emphasized that Pi Network relies on a tiered invitation mechanism. This creates layers of participants, where referrers benefit from bringing in new participants.

“PI Network has nothing to do with the actual project and will soon collapse. Be careful as CABAL is trying to create a meta from the Pi Network brand 2025,” analyst MASTR wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

This model fits the characteristics of pyramid schemes, which are illegal under Chinese law. Some industry leaders like Colin Wu and AB Kuai.Dong have warned of the legal risks of participating in Pi Network in China.

In response, Pi Network has implemented restrictions on Pi coin transactions in certain areas, including mainland China. Exchanges like OKX have confirmed that Pi Network requires a separate listing method.

“PI is the largest pyramid scheme in the Chinese-speaking world. Because mobile phones can be used for direct mining, the threshold is very low. As the number of users increases, the mining rewards gradually decrease. But the downside is that it is related to pyramid schemes and gambling, and there are many cases involving police in various places,” wrote AB Kuai.Dong.

Even without launching the mainnet and continuously delaying, Pi Network is currently the fifth most followed cryptocurrency project on X (formerly Twitter). The project currently has 3.7 million followers, surpassing Ethereum, Solana, and other popular blockchain networks.

The leading cryptocurrency-related app in South Korea. Source: X/MobileIndex

This is also one of the most popular cryptocurrency applications in South Korea and India. The project's mobile app has over 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

Starting Price of Pi Coin

The OTC (over-the-counter) price of Pi network is $2 per Pi token. These are peer-to-peer transactions where users exchange Pi informally without being listed on an exchange.

However, the current IOU (I owe you) price is around $64. IOU is a speculative price on exchanges like HTX (formerly Huobi), where traders predict future prices before Pi can trade.

Most importantly, Pi Network has over 45 million active users, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency communities. Social media activity and search trends indicate strong interest from retail investors.

Currently, a large proportion of Pi is locked due to voluntary lock-up periods set by users. With these factors in mind, analysts from BeInCrypto predict Pi coin will trade in the range of $30 - $50 on the mainnet launch day.