5 years later, Pi Network’s mainnet launch remains elusive

Pi Network pioneers are expressing concern over the slow progress toward the long-awaited mainnet launch and its potential impact on token value.

Pi Network has just turned 5 years

A verified user who has mined Pi tokens for over five years took to X to voice frustration over the delayed mainnet launch and the slow pace of development. Pi Network, known as the first tap-to-earn platform, remains popular, especially in emerging markets like China, Brazil, and India.

Launched in 2019 by Stanford scientists Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan, Pi Network’s goal was to create a cryptocurrency that would be easy to mine and use.

Pi Network users, popularly known as pioneers, can mine tokens by simply pressing a button on the mobile app. These tokens are currently worthless, but they are expected to gain value once the open mainnet is launched.

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As part of its roadmap, Pi Network moved into an enclosed mainnet in December 2021. The enclosed mainnet period allows the calibrations on the token model before the official mainnet launch. It also lets developers build applications that will give Pi coin utility after launch.

Pi Network celebrates 2000 days since its official launch on March 14, 2019! This milestone reflects the steady, ongoing efforts of our community—as we move ever closer to our vision of building the world’s most inclusive peer-to-peer ecosystem and online experience, fueled by… pic.twitter.com/DiQmIyq7qi

— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) September 4, 2024

Odds of Pi Network mainnet launch in 2024 fall

The challenge, however, is that the mainnet launch has taken longer than many users expected, pushing many to abandon the project altogether.

Some analysts believe that Pi Network has remained in a mainnet for so long because of the amount of money the platform makes. The current business model is where the developers make money by showing ads whenever a person mines a coin. As such, they are incentivized to leave it in an enclosed mainnet as long as there are users mining coins.

The same argument has been made about Telegram’s tap-to-earn tokens like Hamster Kombat and TapSwap. These platforms are generating huge sums of money, especially on YouTube, where they have accumulated millions of followers. A concern is that their YouTube videos will not generate these views when the tokens start to trade.

Pi Network’s developers hope to migrate to the mainnet later this year, but some analysts worry that this will not happen. For it to happen, it will need to have many pioneers verified, a move the developers argue is needed to prevent bots. Users who don’t do the KYC will see their accumulated tokens burned and removed from circulation.

🚨 🆘📢Urgent Notice for Pi Network Users: Billions of Pi at Risk! 🚨

Attention Pi Network Pioneers: ⏳ The clock is ticking with just five weeks remaining before billions of Pi coins could potentially be burned! 🔥 This is a critical period for the Pi Network community, as… pic.twitter.com/dbRfgLwIh0

— Huynh Thanh Lin ⚡️π 🚀 (@HuynhThanhLin) August 25, 2024

The other conditions for the mainnet launch are tougher to accomplish. For example, the developers want to have at least 100 dApps in the ecosystem, a difficult task to achieve since there are less than 50 of them so far.

They also want the launch to happen when the market is conducive. It is unclear whether cryptocurrencies will be in an uptrend by the end of the year.

As we have written before, all signs show that Pi coin will drop after listing as many pioneers liquidate their holdings. Most recently, all tap-to-earn tokens like Notcoin (NOT) and Pixelverse (PIXFI) that started trading have all crashed after their initial hype.

The same happened in other popular industries like move-to-earn and play-to-earn, where tokens like Decentraland (MANA) and Sweatcoin (SWEAT) crashed.

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