ANALYSIS: Pi Network and the “Deliberate Strategy” of Collapse – Controversial Analysis from the Community

⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTICE: This article is an opinion piece and analysis originating from the cryptocurrency community (originally Telma Hurlock DwdK, Binance Square, October 19, 2025). The main thesis of a “deliberate collapse” is not confirmed by the Pi Core Team and represents a speculative interpretation of events. Some of the data presented is not independently verified.

Article content

• 📢 UPDATE (Fix) after community feedback (October 20, 2025)
  • Corrected facts:
  • Explanation of terminology:
• Audio and video overview [Czech]
• Audio and video overview [English]
• Analysis of Pi Network's strategy in light of cryptocurrency history – an alternative view of the price drop
  • PI/CZK chart from beginning to today 10/19/2025
• PI/USD chart from beginning to today 10/19/2025
• History Lesson: Why Does Pi Reject the “Bitcoin Way”?
  • The history of cryptocurrencies is defined by the free market ethos.
  • The result is a world that speculators love.
• The Real “Pi Standard”: Community Loyalty Over Lockup
  • 📊 VERIFIED DATA – March lockup event (2025):
  • Technical note about the lockup system:
• AMM as a monetary policy tool
  • Ecosystem “subsidy” (Plan A)
  • Speculative "tax" (Plan B)
• What's Next: Welcome to Pi-Keynesianism
• Critical evaluation and alternative explanations
  • The reality of the price drop:
  • Alternative explanation for the slump:
  • Problems with the main thesis:
  • What is verified:
  • What is planned to be unlocked:
• Conclusion
  • For investors
  • Editorial note
• Related articles …
• PiNetwork

Estimated reading time: 9 minut

📢 UPDATE (Fix) after community feedback (October 20, 2025)

Thank you to our readers for your valuable feedback! Based on your comments, we have identified and corrected some inaccurate numbers in the original article:

Corrected facts:

• ❌ ORIGINAL claim: "600 million Pi locked up without financial incentives"
• ✅ VERIFIED: It was locked in March 2025 65,6 million Pi in 48 hours (207,080 accounts)
• ⚠️ SPECIFICATION: The number 600M+ refers to planned UNLOCKING existing lockups (July-December 2025), not new lockdowns

Explanation of terminology:

• Pi Network distinguishes between "staking" (App Directory staking without rewards) and "lock-up" (Pi lock with mining boost rewards)
• They exist two types of lockups:
  • Pre-migration lockup – configured before migration to mainnet in Pi app
  • On-chain lockup – configured after migration in Pi Wallet (from July 2024), allows up to 200% lockup

This approach to corrections reflects our commitment to transparency and factual accuracy.

Audio and video overview [Czech]

Audio and video overview [English]

Analysis of Pi Network's strategy in light of cryptocurrency history – an alternative view of the price drop

For anyone who has followed the Pi Network chart since the launch of the Open Mainnet, the story is painfully familiar. A euphoric “pump” to $3, followed by a brutal, months-long plunge of over 90% to a low of $0,20. From the outside, it looks like a textbook example of “pump and dump” that left millions of small holders in the dust.

However, according to this opinion analysis, this view is fundamentally wrong. The author argues that what we are seeing is not a failure. It is a painful but intentional transition from market anarchy to a centrally planned economy.

⚠️ CRITICAL WARNING: This claim of an "intentional crash" is not officially confirmed anywhere by the Pi Core Team. It is an interpretation of the author without direct evidence.

According to the author, analysis of blockchain data, strategic moves, and team announcements reveals that the Pi Core Team (PCT) “bleeded” its market for one reason: to gain the data and time needed to build a tool that would end the chaos forever.

This tool is their announced own “Auto Market Maker” (AMM). And to be clear: this is not just “another DEX.” According to the author, it is the corporate equivalent of a central bank.

✔️ VERIFIED: Pi Network has indeed announced its own DEX and AMM, which are currently available on testnet as of September 30, 2025. The mainnet version is planned as part of the v23 protocol.

PI/CZK chart from beginning to today 10/19/2025

PI/USD chart from beginning to today 10/19/2025

History Lesson: Why Does Pi Reject the “Bitcoin Way”?

To understand what Pi does according to this analysis, we need to look at what he rejects.

The history of cryptocurrencies is defined by the free market ethos.

Bitcoin is the perfect laissez-faire system; no one controls it, the price is a pure result of supply and demand. Ethereum followed suit and gave the world the tools for decentralized finance (DeFi), the king of which is Uniswap – a “dumb” but fair AMM that treats everyone the same.

The result is a world that speculators love.

Massive volatility, pump and dump schemes, and price discovery through chaos. The PCT, in this interpretation, looked at this history and said, “No thanks.”

Their strategy, according to the author, is much closer to Ripple (XRP) or even central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Like Ripple Labs, PCT has a massive treasury and funds its operations through token sales.

But while Ripple faces constant criticism for its algorithmic sales that “suppress the price,” Pi Network, according to this analysis, has decided to make the process transparent and elegant. Instead of “dumping” tokens on external exchanges, the team is now building a system where it becomes the main market maker.

⚠️ UNVERIFIED: The article claims that PCT “dumped” tokens “clumsily in 7-21 day cycles.” This claim is not supported by any sources or independently verified.

The Real “Pi Standard”: Community Loyalty Over Lockup

Before the PCT could even begin building a central bank, according to the author, he needed to know whether he had "citizens", or just "mercenaries". This was achieved by the concept of lockup - locking Pi with mining boost rewards (as opposed to "staking" in the App Directory, which does not offer rewards).

📊 VERIFIED DATA – March lockup event (2025):

There was a significant wave of lockups in March 2025, when 65,6 million Pi locked in 48 hours across 207,080 accounts:

• 14 days: 85,156 accounts | 14,7M Pi
• 28 days: 85,156 accounts | 5,3M Pi
• 6 months: 85,156 accounts | 3,15M Pi
• 1 year: 85,156 accounts | 5,74M Pi
• 3 years: 85,156 accounts | 36,7M Pi

✔️ VERIFIED: This data is confirmed by official Pi Network sources and community analysis (Binance Square, Reddit, PiScan.io).

Technical note about the lockup system:

Pi Network offers two types of lockups, which differ in implementation but use the same reward calculations:

1. Pre-migration lockup – Configured in Pi mining app before migration to mainnet. Affects Pi in subsequent migration.
2. On-chain (post-migration) lockup – Introduced in July 2024. Configured in Pi Wallet after migration. Allows locking up to 200% of the migrated amount (for Pioneers who have earned additional Pi from apps or the store).

Both types are irreversible after confirmation and increase the mining rate based on the percentage and length of the lockup.

⚠️ CONTROVERSY: While lockup with mining rewards has generated positive reactions, “App Directory staking” (no rewards, just for app rankings) has generated significant confusion and criticism in the community. Many users were expecting traditional staking rewards.

AMM as a monetary policy tool

This, according to the analysis, is the core of the entire strategy. The AMM itself is not a market; it is a monetary policy instrument. The PCT will not passively watch what the market does. It will actively manage it.

Their AMM will allow them to do something that Uniswap cannot: “differentiated incentives".

Ecosystem “subsidy” (Plan A)

The team will massively subsidize pools that they deem beneficial under this vision. Liquidity pools for DApps (games, AI), like Pi / Game_Token, will have almost zero fees and will be flooded with extra Pi rewards. This is the “carrot” – the path to building.

Speculative "tax" (Plan B)

According to the author, the team knows that there needs to be a bridge to the real world (USDC/USDT) to attract developers. But this bridge will be expensive. The Pi/USDC pool will be intentionally “punished” – for example, with a 1% fee (compared to 0,1% elsewhere) and zero extra rewards. This is a “whip” – an exit tax for speculators.

⚠️ SPECULATION ABOUT THE FUTURE: These descriptions of how AMM will work are speculations about future implementation. AMM is currently only on testnet and its final functionality on mainnet is unknown.

What's Next: Welcome to Pi-Keynesianism

The collapse from $3 to $0,20, according to this controversial analysis, was not a failure. It was a baptism of fire that forced the team to abandon its hopes for a free market and fully embrace its role as a central planner.

According to the author, the team is not afraid of a $1 price. They are afraid of a volatile, speculative path to $1 that would destroy their DApps economy. Their AMM will act as a shock absorber – it will absorb speculative pumps by “pouring” liquidity from the treasury and cushion falls by withdrawing it.

According to this vision, Pi Network is not creating a competitor to Bitcoin. It is building the first corporate centrally controlled digital economy on a massive scale.

Critical evaluation and alternative explanations

The reality of the price drop:

Pi Network has indeed seen a dramatic drop from around $3 to the current ~$0,20, a drop of over 90%. Trading volume has decreased by 96%, and the project is facing increasing supply pressure and investor disappointment.

Alternative explanation for the slump:

• Natural decline after a hyped launch without real utility
• Massive token unlocking creating supply pressure (600M+ Pi to unlock July-December 2025)
• Lack of listings on top exchanges (Binance, Coinbase)
• Disappointment with the slow development of the ecosystem
• The usual cycle of cryptocurrency projects

Problems with the main thesis:

1. No direct evidence about a deliberate strategy of decline
2. Original number 600M locked was inaccurate – 65,6M confirmed in 48 hours
3. Missing resources for sales cycle claims
4. A simpler explanation (market forces) is more likely than a complex conspiracy

What is verified:

• Pi Network has its own DEX and AMM on testnet ✓
• The project has two types of lockups (pre-migration and on-chain) ✓
• In March 2025, 65,6M Pi was locked in 48h ✓
• The price actually dropped by 90% ✓
• The community is loyal despite losses ✓

What is planned to be unlocked:

• 600M+ Pi tokens to unlock (August-December 2025) ✓
• Daily migrations add 3-5M tokens to circulation ✓

Conclusion

This analysis represents interesting but controversial interpretation current situation of Pi Network. The main thesis about the "deliberate collapse" is unverifiable speculation, which can be misleading for investors suffering 90% losses.

Still, the article provides valuable perspective on how Pi Network could build a centralized cryptoeconomy distinct from the Bitcoin/Ethereum model. Whether the interpretation is correct or not, their “community-first” approach with a lockup mechanism (65,6M Pi locked in 48h in March 2025) represents an interesting experiment in the history of digital assets.

For investors

Remember, this is speculative analysis, not a proven strategy. Make investment decisions based on verifiable facts, not controversial theories.

Editorial note

PiBazar.eu presents this article as an opinion piece from the community for informational purposes. We neither support nor refute the theories presented and encourage readers to think critically and do their own research. We thank readers for their feedback, which helped us refine the factual information in this article.

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