Pi Network holds above $0.21 as protocol v23 upgrade boosts developer optimism

Pi Network (PI) shed a part of its weekly profits but kept its price above $0.2100 on Monday, after a six-day recovery shadowed by a crypto market volatile spree caused by the ongoing US-Venezuela tussle.                                                                                           

Several market watchers and community members have been speaking about the launch of Pi Network’s Protocol v23 during the last quarter of 2025, an upgrade meant to improve transaction speed, security, and overall scalability. Protocol v23 adds Stellar Core v23.0.1 to remove transaction bottlenecks and to clean up the tainted trust the market has in the network. 

The network’s improvements could help streamline its network for developers and creators through decentralized applications (dApps).

Protocol v23 debuts Rust smart contracts 

One of the features Protocol v23 came with is the introduction of Rust-based smart contracts, which are now operational. These contracts help developers to deploy dApps directly on Pi Network for a variety of decentralized financial services and applications. 

The network team has confirmed plans to launch a decentralized exchange (DEX) in Q1 or Q2 2026, in tandem with Pi Network’s plan of becoming a settlement layer capable of handling high-volume and secure transactions. According to the Pi Core development team’s blog, the upgrade reduces the time required to finalize transactions to make them more reliable for retail  and institutions. 

Data from Santiment revealed that social dominance, measuring the network’s presence in crypto media, fell to 0.004% as social volume continued its decline. However, Pi coin’s trading volume reached nearly 18 million PI tokens, the highest since December 18.

Looking at the token’s technical indicators, Pi Network has struggled to extend beyond the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $0.2174, coinciding with the December 19 high at $0.2177. 

An eventful weekend of the US attack on Venezuela caused Pi coin’s charts to form long wick candles, but a decisive close above $0.2174 this business week could see PI target the September 23 low at $0.2613, the current psychological resistance level. 

Momentum indicators including the Relative Strength Index (RSI) sit within bullish regions, and market watchers believe the token’s selling pressure has diminished enough for bulls to charge its price upwards to $0.3.

Pioneers prepare for January 134 million tokens unlock

Pi Network is slated to release over 134 million PI tokens into circulation, on the heels of a smaller December unlock of 8.7 million tokens that had minimal effects on its price and ecosystem. 

Some community members see the January unlock as a supply event and test of the network’s economic resilience that would see it thrive in the first quarter of 2026, away from the noise affecting the rest of the crypto market like US geopolitics. 

“January’s 134M PI unlock is more than a supply event; it’s a test of our ecosystem’s economic gravity. With over 215 apps and 15.8M Pioneers on Mainnet, our utility is ready to meet the challenge head-on,” wrote one Pi Network enthusiast.

Some traders and community members are tempering their expectations, still concerned over liquidity and selling pressure despite the fundamentals of Protocol v23, which may provide a counterbalance to short-term volatility if successful.

Pi Network annual recap bashed over muted price predictions for 2026

The Pi Network Core Team recently published its 2025 annual recap on its website blog page, noting the Open Network and PI token launch in February 2025, “a milestone achieved after more than six years of building Pi’s infrastructure and community.” 

Other initiatives the development team mentioned were AI integrations, Know Your Customer (KYC) progress, Pi App Studio release, Pi Network Ventures, Linux nodes, and community events such as the Q3/4 Hackathon, directory staking, and .pi Domains Auction.

The Core Team gave vague price projections for its token in 2026, a choice that Pioneers blasted as a lack of confidence in its utility in the future. “Pi Network in 2026 will be shaped by Pi’s long-term strategies and planning, in addition to Pioneers, developers, and partners building and using the ecosystem together,” the team wrote. 

Some users were frustrated over KYC delays and lack of accountability, saying it is “the slowest project in history,” and that its coin would be “trading at $0.001 by June.” 

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