On March 14 (Pi Day), which is also the deadline for KYC, the mined coins of Pi users over the years were deleted for not verifying their identity.
After many delays and extensions, the Pi Network team officially reclaimed the amount of coins that users mined over the years. The affected group consists of accounts that did not complete identity verification (KYC) or had their applications rejected.
Currently, there are no official statistics on the number of affected users. However, the number could reach tens of millions.
Specifically, before the main segment was launched, the Pi Core Team (the development team of the Pi Network project) stated that they had over 60 million users, with 20 million having completed KYC and 10 million accounts pushing digital currencies to the blockchain. Thus, there are about 40 million customers who have not completed the mandatory identity verification process. This number may decrease with additional approvals in the past month. Additionally, many people re-downloaded the app and completed KYC after Pi was listed, trading at high prices.
Before the digital currencies were reclaimed, Pi Network was condemned by its long-time supporters. Many expressed disappointment when the project they wholeheartedly supported seemed to 'betray' them. Some even shared accounts that had been deleted with 10,000 Pi, equivalent to over 15,000 USD at the current market rate.
“The team does nothing to assist. This is a very common issue,” Jaro Giesbrecht, a long-time Pi miner, posted on X. This Pi user had completed KYC and was listed on the mainnet but the process was stalled.
Jaro Giesbrecht criticized the project, stating that they must resolve all customer issues before shutting down the network.
“The entire process feels like a joke. 80% of my assets are displayed as unverified. Meanwhile, the entire security circle has completed KYC. No additional guidance has been provided to resolve this,” commented another Pi user. On the other hand, many users encountered issues at step 9 in the mainnet checklist. In this situation, the account holder had completed all necessary actions, but was still not approved.
Moreover, the inability of a person to verify also affects many other Pi wallets. Specifically, once KYC is completed, not all digital currencies may be transacted. Miners divide assets into two types, purple Pi and yellow Pi. Purple color refers to the part that users earn themselves through daily check-ins, which can be pushed to the blockchain.
Meanwhile, the yellow part comes from members who have entered referral codes or belong to the mining circle. Only when these individuals complete KYC does the aforementioned amount of Pi change to purple. In most cases, this part will be lost because many people have abandoned their accounts or been denied verification.
According to the policy, not all mined Pi will disappear. The platform will preserve the digital currencies earned in the last 6 months. However, this amount is insignificant as time goes on, the amount mined decreases due to the supply control mechanism.
Also on March 14, nearly all 1-star complaints from Pi users on CH Play were deleted.
