5 Jaw-Dropping Reasons Pi Network Went From Crypto Darling to Digital Desert 🏜️

What Pi Network promised

Back in 2019, Pi Network sashayed onto the crypto stage in a cloud of promise and idealism, waving its little flag that read: “Mine crypto on your phone, darling! No techie kit. No transformer-sized electricity bills. Just you, your index finger, and the daily ‘tap to mine’ button.”

Predictably, the masses flocked. Honestly, who could resist the allure of “free crypto” and a legitimate excuse to nag friends to sign up? “It’ll make us RICH, Sharon!” (No, Sharon, it won’t, but it’s charming you still believe in magic beans.) With its don’t-miss-out energy, the network hit 70 million users—most of us hoping for Lambos but settling for the occasional dopamine hit from watching our Pi balances creep up like a hungover snail.

Did you know? Pi Network uses Stellar Consensus Protocol (for the three people who pretend to know what that is at parties), making it “eco-friendly.” The planet is grateful, but still not accepting Pi as payment for climate change.

What the Pi Network delivered

On paper, the roadmap was elegant: mobile mining, followed by testnet, then KYC rollout, then—cue the dramatic music—the full glorious mainnet and Real World Trading. In reality? The whole thing moved slower than a queue for the ladies’ loo at Glastonbury.

Many Pi pioneers spent years in “limbo”—tapping Gallantly, heroically, only to discover that mainnet was like Narnia’s wardrobe: always promised, never found. When trading finally opened in February 2025… plot twist! Many users couldn’t migrate their balances, KYC morphed into a bureaucratic Bermuda Triangle, and the Pi they’d painstakingly mined stayed forever tantalisingly out of reach—like that one sock the washing machine ate in 2019.

For five glorious minutes, Pi’s value hit $2.98 and we all fantasised about private islands. Sadly, as users made for the exit en masse and actual utility proved thinner than celebrity skin, the price exhaled and deflated spectacularly. By May 2025: $0.58. Ouch. Still better than Fyre Festival, though.

But wait, there’s less! Still virtually no way to spend Pi—unless you fancy taking part in “exciting community-run pilot projects” (translation: your neighbour’s garage sale). The team’s vision of a full-blown Pi utopia remains sketchier than your mate’s Tinder date.

Why the crypto community grew skeptical

As months stacked up faster than unread WhatsApps, the parade of red flags morphed into a full-on semaphore display. Even the most optimistic hodler started twitching.

1. Still waiting on the mainnet

Launched in 2019, Pi’s open mainnet became blockchain’s own Waiting for Godot for six long years. By the time it actually launched, half of the faithful had probably lost their passwords (and, quite possibly, the will to live).

2. All roads lead back to the core team

“Decentralized!” they proclaimed, while quietly clutching all the keys like Gollum with his ring.

• Mainnet nodes? Team-controlled!
• Token stash? Core team snuggled in the middle like a Pi-flavoured Cadbury’s Creme Egg.

Sorry, that’s not decentralisation, that’s micromanagement with a blockchain sticker.

3. Where’s the transparency?

The white paper is vaguer than your friend Sarah describing her “side hustle.” No public breakdowns, no burn schedule, no idea how supply is managed. “Just trust us!” they say. Reassuring, if you’re a Labrador—less so if you’re after money.

4. Exchange listings

No Binance. No Coinbase. OKX and Bitget? Yes, but with more plot twists than a Netflix docuseries. Withdrawals get “suspended” for “technical reasons”—which for all we know, means Dave tripped over a server.

Users reported disappearing tokens, withdrawal dramas, and mysterious exchange-to-exchange transfers. Suspicious? Only slightly less than your cat when you move its litter tray. Large volumes flowing around suggested—gasp—possibly a little light price wizardry behind the curtain.

5. Fake volume and fading hype

That $3 price in February 2025? Gone faster than a cold can of Coke in a heatwave. Trading volumes slouched from “billions” down to “could-buy-a-fancy-latte,” leaving everyone wondering: were we all just trading with bots and hope?

6. Users trapped in a closed loop

The ultimate cosmic joke: tons of users, but most can’t actually use, move, or spend their Pi. It just sits there in the app, looking pretty, but ultimately doing less than your expired gym membership card.

Did you know? Pi Network claims 70 million users, but blockchain data shows only about 9.11 million wallets—and just 20,000 are actually awake and tapping every day. The rest of us are spiritually mining Pi, I suppose.

Is Pi Network a scam or just a failed vision?

Before the pitchforks come out: Not every spectacular fail is a crime! Sometimes it’s just classic overhype. Pi didn’t require you to buy in; it just wanted your irresistible optimism (and your tapping finger).

The catch? The structure veered suspiciously close to “pyramid-adjacent.” Invite friends, get more Pi, rinse and repeat. Less “decentralised crypto,” more “multi-level marketing but for nerds.”

The real currency was attention—and, oops, KYC info. Users had to verify their identities, endure ad bombardments, and the core team milked it for all the eyeballs it was worth. So, not a classic Ponzi, but not exactly the blockchain utopia we daydreamed about over double espressos.

Cynical crypto celebs have thrown shade on Pi’s sincerity—just in case you needed the validation of strangers with Twitter blue checks.

Did you know? Pi Network’s grand launch was on March 14 (yes, Pi Day). Bonus points for branding, zero points for results. π is 3.14, not coincidentally the number of dollars my Pi is currently worth.

Can Pi recover, or is it over?

Is there a rescue plan for this soapy crypto saga? Technically, yes! Realistically—pass me that magic 8-ball.

If the core team fancies a comeback, step one is transparency. (You know, actually showing everyone what’s going on behind the scenes.) Open-source code would be a good start. Maybe even have a white paper with actual words in it, not just inspirational quotes.

Utility is pathetic at the moment. Letting people buy things—anything!—with Pi would help. Otherwise, these tokens will remain as useful as those vintage Beanie Babies in your attic.

Get listed on proper exchanges so people can, you know, actually do something with their Pi tokens—besides screenshotting their balances for the group chat. At the minute, getting listed on Binance is as likely as finding an honest “influencer.”

Finally, stop talking about decentralisation and actually do it. Until then, Pi is just a glorified app run by a handful of wizards behind the curtain.

Bottom line: without some serious glow-up, Pi Network risks going down in crypto history as “that weird tapping app everyone tried, then quietly deleted when they ran out of hope and patience.” RIP Pi dreams. At least Flappy Bird never lied to us.