Get your access points ready first: the Binance Official Site, the Official Binance App, and the Download Page. Pi Network's Open Mainnet officially launched on February 20, 2025, and Pi coin is now trading on OKX, Bitget, Gate.io, HTX, MEXC, and several other exchanges, but Binance and Coinbase still haven't listed it. As of April 2026, Pi coin is trading at roughly $0.62, with a market cap of about $4.5 billion, making it the 22nd largest cryptocurrency. Pi Network took 6 years (2019-2025) to go from mining tests to mainnet launch, but the project has long faced controversy over accusations of being a "Ponzi scheme," concerns about its KYC data collection, and criticism for lacking real-world use cases.
Pi Network was founded on March 14, 2019 (Pi Day) by Stanford PhDs Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan, among others. The project's stated goal was "letting ordinary people mine cryptocurrency from their phones."
| Timeline | Event |
|---|---|
| 2019-03-14 | Pi Network launches (phone-based mining model) |
| 2019-04 | Testnet goes live |
| 2020-03 | User count passes 1 million |
| 2021-12 | Enclosed Mainnet launches |
| 2022 | Global users surpass 40 million |
| 2024-12 | Countdown to Open Network begins |
| 2025-02-20 | Open Mainnet officially launches |
| 2025-02-20 | OKX, Bitget, and Gate.io list Pi simultaneously |
| 2025-04 | Binance holds a community vote (listing not approved) |
| 2026-04 | Binance and Coinbase still haven't listed Pi |
Pi Network has the largest user base of any project in crypto history — as of April 2026, registered users exceed 65 million, with over 19 million having passed KYC.
Pi Network's "mobile mining" isn't real computational mining. Users simply tap a "mine" button once a day in the Pi app to earn Pi coins. This mechanism is essentially a "daily check-in reward."
| User role | Hourly mining rate | Role description |
|---|---|---|
| Pioneer | Base rate | Ordinary miner |
| Contributor | +25% | Adds 5 members to their security circle |
| Ambassador | +25% per referral | Invites new users |
| Node | Extra bonus | Runs a node (desktop) |
The mining rate has steadily declined as the project has grown, falling from an early rate of 3.14 Pi/hour to just 0.0011 Pi/hour by 2025. This "more rewards early, fewer rewards later" model resembles Bitcoin's halving logic in spirit, but the exact rules are controlled entirely by the project team.
Pi Network's mainnet tokenomics:
| Metric | Pi token data |
|---|---|
| Total supply cap | 100 billion Pi |
| Genesis issuance | Created in one lump sum at mainnet launch |
| Current circulating supply | 7.2 billion Pi |
| Team allocation | 20 billion Pi (20%) |
| Network/mining rewards | 65 billion Pi (65%) |
| Ecosystem fund | 10 billion Pi (10%) |
| Liquidity reserve | 5 billion Pi (5%) |
Pi's 100 billion total supply is 4,762 times Bitcoin's and 8.3 times Ethereum's. This massive supply naturally keeps Pi's unit price low, making it difficult to reach the price levels of major coins.
As of April 2026, here's where Pi coin is supported:
| Exchange | Lists Pi? | Listing date |
|---|---|---|
| OKX | Yes | 2025-02-20 |
| Bitget | Yes | 2025-02-20 |
| Gate.io | Yes | 2025-02-20 |
| HTX | Yes | 2025-02-20 |
| MEXC | Yes | 2025-02-20 |
| KuCoin | Yes | 2025-03 |
| Bybit | Yes | 2025-04 |
| Binance | No | Vote not approved |
| Coinbase | No | - |
| Kraken | No | - |
Binance held a community vote on listing Pi in February 2025, and the result was "not listing for now." The main reasons cited were the project's long-running controversies, an opaque token economy, and a mismatch between user numbers and trading volume.
Pi coin's price history on the secondary market:
| Date | Pi price | Market cap ($B) | Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-02-20 launch | $1.30 | 9.5 | Mainnet launch |
| 2025-02-25 | $2.85 | 20.5 | FOMO peak |
| 2025-03 | $1.50 | 10.8 | Pulling back |
| 2025-06 | $0.85 | 6.2 | Continued decline |
| 2025-12 | $0.55 | 4.0 | Bear market low |
| 2026-04 | $0.62 | 4.5 | Current |
Pi's price initially spiked to a FOMO-driven high of $2.85 after launch, then fell 80% over the following six months. The current price of $0.62 is down 78% from that peak.
Pi Network has faced ongoing controversy on multiple fronts:
The first controversy is KYC data collection. Since 2022, Pi has required users to complete KYC, collecting sensitive information like ID cards and passports. Between 2024 and 2025, multiple incidents of leaked KYC data raised serious privacy and security concerns.
The second controversy is opaque tokenomics. Key parameters like the team's allocation, unlock schedule, and burn mechanism have changed repeatedly, and there's no stable, documented tokenomics framework.
The third controversy is the lack of real-world utility. The "DApp ecosystem" promised after mainnet launch has progressed slowly, and as of April 2026 no significant, widely-used DApp has emerged.
The fourth controversy is its marketing approach. Pi has long relied on an "invite to mine" model, where both the inviter and the invitee receive a mining rate boost — a structure some critics describe as resembling a "pyramid-style" growth scheme.
Pi coin's future development faces several possible paths:
Scenario one: major exchange adoption. If Binance or Coinbase eventually lists Pi coin, its liquidity and market depth would improve significantly, and the price could rebound. But the near-term likelihood of this remains low.
Scenario two: a DApp ecosystem breakthrough. If Pi Network can incubate DApps with genuine user adoption (payments, social, gaming, etc.), Pi coin could shift from a "speculative token" to a "utility token." But current progress is behind expectations.
Scenario three: slow decline. If user engagement keeps falling, new user growth stalls, and controversy keeps mounting, Pi coin could gradually shrink, with its price potentially falling below $0.20.
| Project | Launch date | Users | Exchanges listed | Current price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pi Network | 2019-03 | 65 million | 7 second-tier | $0.62 |
| Bee Network | 2021-03 | 50 million | 0 | Not listed |
| StepN | 2021-12 | 3.5 million | Major | GMT $0.18 |
| Chiliz | 2018 | - | Major | CHZ $0.05 |
| Worldcoin | 2023-07 | 7 million | Major | WLD $1.20 |
Projects with a similarly large user base but limited real-world adoption, like Bee Network, mostly haven't made it onto major exchanges. Getting listed on 7 second-tier exchanges is already a relatively strong outcome among comparable projects.
The main investment risks around Pi coin:
The first risk is concentrated liquidity. Pi coin's 7.2 billion circulating supply is spread across 65 million users, but less than 10% of it is actually available for trading on exchanges (most sits in Pi app wallets that have never been withdrawn). Liquidity constraints will likely persist long-term.
The second risk is strong control by the project team. The team holds 20 billion Pi (20% of total supply) and can adjust tokenomics parameters at will, creating potential for manipulation.
The third risk is a lack of clear long-term value. Beyond "speculative value" and "community consensus," Pi coin lacks a real DApp ecosystem, institutional capital, or a deflationary burn mechanism to support its value.
Common channels mainland Chinese users use to trade Pi coin:
The first channel is exchanges that already list Pi, like OKX, Bitget, and Gate.io. Users complete C2C deposits of USDT and then buy Pi coin on the spot market.
The second channel is withdrawing from the Pi app wallet. Users who have completed mining and KYC within Pi Network can withdraw Pi from the Pi wallet to one of the exchanges above and then sell it for USDT.
But it's worth noting that the Pi withdrawal process is complex, the KYC bar is high, and withdrawal failure rates are relatively high.
Q: What is Pi coin? A: Pi coin is the token of Pi Network, a project founded in March 2019 by Stanford PhD Nicolas Kokkalis and others. Users tap a "mine" button once a day in the mobile app to earn Pi. Registered users exceed 65 million, with over 19 million having completed KYC.
Q: Has Pi's mainnet launched? A: Yes. Pi Network's Open Mainnet officially launched on February 20, 2025. OKX, Bitget, Gate.io, HTX, MEXC, and other exchanges opened Pi coin trading simultaneously.
Q: Has Binance listed Pi? A: As of April 2026, Binance still hasn't listed Pi coin. In February 2025, Binance held a community vote and the result was "not listing for now." Coinbase hasn't listed it either.
Q: What's Pi coin's current price? A: As of April 25, 2026, Pi coin is trading at roughly $0.62, with a market cap of about $4.5 billion, making it the 22nd largest cryptocurrency. That's down 78% from its early post-launch peak of $2.85.
Q: Can you actually mine Pi coin? A: Pi Network's "mobile mining" isn't real computational mining. Users simply tap a "mine" button once a day in the app to earn Pi coins. It's essentially a "daily check-in reward plus referral growth" mechanism.
Q: Could Pi coin reach $100? A: Pi's total supply is 100 billion, which is 4,762 times Bitcoin's. Reaching $100 would require a market cap of $10 trillion, more than half of gold's total market value. That price target is mathematically close to impossible.
Q: Is Pi Network a scam? A: Pi Network isn't a "scam" in the traditional sense, since it doesn't require users to pay money. But the project has long faced controversy over its KYC data collection, opaque tokenomics, and lack of real-world utility. Whether it has investment value is up to individual judgment.
Q: What are Pi coin's long-term prospects? A: Pi coin's long-term prospects hinge on three factors: whether major exchanges (Binance/Coinbase) eventually list it, whether its DApp ecosystem can achieve a real breakthrough, and whether user engagement can be sustained. All three factors currently face significant challenges.
Q: How do I withdraw coins from the Pi app to an exchange? A: Complete KYC in the Pi app, transfer your balance to the Pi wallet, and then use the Pi wallet's withdrawal feature to send it to an exchange address (OKX, Bitget, etc.). But the process is complex, the KYC bar is high, and failure rates are relatively high.
Q: Can users in mainland China buy Pi coin? A: Through international exchanges that already list Pi, like OKX, Bitget, and Gate.io, users can complete KYC and a C2C deposit of USDT to buy Pi coin on the spot market. The Pi app itself has restricted usage within mainland China.
Data sources: CoinGecko, Pi Network official announcements, and various exchange listing announcements, as of April 25, 2026.