Pi Network Upgrade Raises Questions About the Pi Coin Price Outlook

PI coin has shown a small bounce, but it’s still a long way from convincing the market that the downtrend is over. After losing more than 96% from its late-2025 peak near $3.50, the Pi price  is trading around $0.1269, leaving investors wondering if the project is finally laying the groundwork for a recovery.

There are a few developments giving the community something to talk about. Pi Network has made Protocol v25 mandatory for node operators, BSCN has become the most staked app on Pi App Studio with more than 740,000 PI committed, and the network continues preparing for smart contracts and decentralized finance. The challenge is whether those improvements can overcome the steady stream of new tokens entering circulation.

Protocol v25 Is Now Mandatory for Node Operators

Pi Network is moving ahead with one of its biggest infrastructure updates so far. The Core Team has mandated the entire mainnet node operators to upgrade their systems to Protocol v25 since failure to do so may result in nodes being out of sync with the network. The majority of the operators have already upgraded, but the remaining minority runs a risk of losing sync.

The update comes at the heels of the ongoing roadmap by Pi for improvements regarding scalability, stability, and transaction performance before the introduction of bigger features such as smart contracts, DeFi, and ultimately a Pi DEX.

Pi Network uses the modified version of Stellar Consensus Protocol and therefore needs all validators to be in line with the same protocol version. Keeping the network aligned is one of the requirements before more advanced applications can be introduced.

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BSCN Reaches a New Milestone Inside Pi App Studio

The ecosystem also picked up another positive development. BSCN announced that it has become the top staked application inside Pi App Studio after attracting more than 740,000 PI from Pioneers and businesses. 

The application has also earned a featured position on the Pi Browser homepage as the platform’s leading App Studio project. That doesn’t directly move the PI price, but it does show that users continue participating inside the ecosystem despite the difficult market conditions. More activity inside Pi’s application layer could become an important piece of the network’s long-term growth if adoption continues expanding.

The PI Price Still Has Plenty of Work to Do

The technical picture remains challenging. We had a look at the daily chart, and the PI price continues trading near $0.1269, about 20.7% below the 100-day Simple Moving Average at $0.1601. The moving average has been declining throughout 2026, and every recovery attempt has stalled below it.

The bigger decline puts things into perspective. PI has fallen from almost $3.50 to the current level near $0.13, representing a drawdown of roughly 96.4%. There is one encouraging signal beginning to appear.

The Daily RSI stands at 37.78, while there have been three bullish RSI divergences formed on the chart since March. Previous divergences brought about reversals from $0.18 to $0.35 and $0.16 to $0.23.

Despite not being able to change the general trend, both reversals indicated that selling pressure was starting to ease off. For buyers, the first objective remains getting back above the 100-day SMA near $0.1601.

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Token Unlocks Continue to Pressure the PI Price

The biggest obstacle for the PI price isn’t technical, it’s supply. About 1.21 billion PI tokens are scheduled to unlock throughout 2026, with roughly 4.6 million to 6.5 million PI entering circulation every day. 

As more user balances migrate from the enclosed mainnet to tradable wallets, additional supply reaches the open market. That creates constant selling pressure unless demand grows fast enough to absorb the new tokens.

Liquidity also remains limited because Pi has yet to secure listings on several major exchanges. Combined with weak sentiment across the broader crypto market, those factors continue making it difficult for the PI price to establish a sustained recovery.

What Could Come Next for the PI Price?

The PI price is caught between improving fundamentals and persistent supply pressure. Protocol v25 strengthens the network’s infrastructure, activity inside Pi App Studio continues growing, and the roadmap toward smart contracts keeps moving forward. 

Those developments improve the project’s foundation, but the market is still dealing with more than 1.2 billion PI scheduled to unlock this year. On a technical level, the first step that needs to be undertaken is the recovery of the 100-day moving average at $0.1601 before the general trend can improve. On the other hand, it is very important for support to stay above $0.12.

FAQs

How do token unlocks affect the PI price

Token unlocks increase the circulating supply of PI. If demand does not grow at the same pace, the additional supply can create selling pressure and weigh on the PI price.

Can Pi Network recover in the future

Pi Network’s recovery will depend on several factors, including successful rollout of smart contracts, continued ecosystem growth, exchange listings, user adoption, and whether demand can absorb the large number of PI tokens entering circulation.