Pi Token Crashes After Its Grand Debut

Yesterday, developers at Pi Network launched the Open Network mainnet—a nomenclature that intriguingly parallels Telegram’s Open Network. They asserted that early adopters would now be able to utilize the token beyond the confines of the ecosystem, including through centralized exchanges and diverse applications. The token promptly appeared on several well-regarded centralized trading platforms such as Bitget, OKX, and MEXC.

Nonetheless, mere hours after trading commenced, the token’s price experienced a precipitous decline, falling to as low as $0.66, driven by intense market activity and fraud allegations leveled by Bybit’s CEO, Ben Zhou. Notably, at least three major centralized exchanges—Binance, Bybit, and the European platform WhiteBIT—opted not to list PI.

Ben stated that the exchange has deliberately chosen to ignore the project, citing fraud allegations that emerged two years ago when Chinese law enforcement issued direct warnings about Pi Network. The developers have not disputed these allegations; moreover, they are actively asserting that they themselves declined Bybit’s offer to list the token.

If the project is legitimate and straight up, then you should come forth and address these report so everyone can understand , but instead you choose to make up shit and do these childish attack with no ground,

Ben remarks.

According to the official Pi Network documentation, the project facilitates PI token mining through a mobile application. However, some of the developers’ assertions invite skepticism—specifically, claims of over 60 million registered users and a fully decentralized network, which independent analysts contend is likely closer to 9 million, compounded by a lack of truly independent validators.

Read on: The Open Network: A Deep Dive into the TON Blockchain