Pi Network News: Founders Defend Vision as PI Crashes 94%, Say ‘We Are Nonconformist’

Pi Network is going through a rough stretch.

PI is trading near $0.16, down more than 94% from its all-time high of $2.98. Even after a small bounce from its recent low near $0.13, sentiment remains fragile. Volume is modest, and many early users are questioning what comes next.

But while the price chart looks bruised, the founders insist the real story is happening behind the scenes.

“Pi Is Different. We’re Nonconformist.”

Co-founder Dr. Chengdiao Fan addressed growing criticism directly.

“Pi feels different from other blockchains because Pi is different,” she said. “When Open Network launched a year ago, I described Pi as nonconformist, and that still holds.”

She pointed out several things that separate Pi from the typical crypto launch model. “Pi never did an ICO. Pi is free to mine for accessibility. It’s mobile-first. Pi’s Mainnet blockchain is fully KYC’d.”

That last point is crucial. Unlike most networks that allow anonymous participation, Pi requires identity verification. According to the team, that was intentional.

“Utility also connects with Pi’s focus on KYC identity verification,” Fan explained. “Pi’s fully KYC’d network was fundamental in preparing the blockchain for real-world assets and production processes.”

In other words, Pi is betting on identity-backed utility instead of anonymous speculation.

What Is Pi Working On Now?

Co-founder Nicolas Kokkalis laid out the roadmap as the token struggles.

“KYC and migration remain a top priority,” he said. “We’re increasing KYC throughput, unblocking more users, increasing speed through further AI integration… and enabling second migrations so more Pioneers can fully participate in the Mainnet ecosystem.”

He added that KYC validator rewards are expected this quarter.

On the developer side, Pi is expanding tools and integrations. “We’re lowering the barrier to building on Pi… including new tools like much faster Pi payment setups.”

The team is also pushing deeper into AI and app development. “We’re expanding the App Studio with broader access, new payments integrations, and deeper AI capabilities.”

At the protocol level, work continues on nodes, upgrades, DEX functionality, and liquidity pools.

Utility Over Hype

Fan made one controversial point clear.

“It’s easy to enable fast, high-volume trading. It’s much harder to enable tokens to be used inside real products.”

She questioned the broader crypto industry: “If those tokens don’t map to anything real, what’s the point?”

That philosophy explains why Pi hackathon apps often look like dating platforms or e-commerce tools rather than pure DeFi speculation.

Hence, Pi’s founders are choosing patience over hype.