Pi Network users have made allegations of rug pull against the project's creators following the recent price drop. In a post on X, one of the prominent members of the Pi Community, Dr. Picoin, claimed that insiders sold off millions of tokens.

According to Dr. Picoin, the sell-off by insiders occurred following recent announcements about upgrades and improvements to the Pi Network at Consensus 2025. He claimed that the hype surrounding these announcements pushed the value of PI up high, and insiders took the opportunity to sell.

He said:

“The core team sold tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of Pi at peak times—while the community was distracted by announcements and illusions of progress.”

Interestingly, users alleging fraudulent behavior and sell-offs pointed to blockchain data showing that a wallet allegedly controlled by the Pi Core Team transferred 12 million PI in the past 24 hours.

However, some other users have opposed the claims, noting that there is no rug pull. Pinnewszone on X explained that the wallet many believe is selling is the distribution wallet that the Pi Core Team uses to move user balances to the main network.

They posted:

“Don’t be fooled by the fake information spreading on X. The Coreteam is not selling pi. You are just being influenced to sell off so they can buy at a lower price.”

While community members are debating what is happening, the Pi Core Team remains silent, allowing fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) to spread among users.

The PI token lost more than 50% within a week as users awaited the mainnet

Meanwhile, most concerns from users alleging rug pull seem to be related to the sharp drop in the price of PI this week. The token reached $1.60 on May 12 but began selling off since then and is currently at $0.679, representing a decrease of about 58%.

Dr. Picoin posted:

“Don’t ask me—ask the co-founders to explain: why did the price suddenly drop from $1.60 to $0.70 when in fact the update from PCT should be considered a positive development?”

However, the decline is mainly due to the disappointing wait of most users expecting the network to transition to mainnet. A post from the official Pi Core Team account generated excitement last week when it hinted at a major announcement.

Most people expected this announcement to be related to the long-awaited mainnet launch, but it was the launch of the Pi Network Venture fund. The news of the $100 million fund for a project based on Pi Network was not very impressive to most users.

Interestingly, the trading volume of PI has decreased by 34% to $328.54 million in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. Trading volume has also declined since peaking at $2.03 billion on May 13.

This indicates that holders sold on rumors, meaning they sold off tokens while it was still rising before the team announced the launch of the venture capital fund. Since the announcement on May 14, trading volume has dropped below $1 billion.

Pi Network announces new upgrades at Consensus 2025

Meanwhile, Pi Network continues to develop even as users await the mainnet launch, which still has no estimated date. The founder of the network, Dr. Nicholas Kokkalis, revealed at Consensus that Pi Network has now shut down its central node to allow for complete decentralization of the network.

He further stated that their node operating software now has a new version called Horizon, available for node operators to upgrade. Horizon is said to provide security, performance, and protocol.

Interestingly, Kokkalis mentioned in a speech titled “Unlocking Mainstream Adoption with AI + Blockchain Infrastructure” that Pi Network will integrate artificial intelligence. He urged AI companies to build AI applications on the network, while also adding that there is a plan to improve the technical infrastructure of Pi Network.