Pi Network Ramps Up Infrastructure Development Amid Stagnant Price
Pi Network has continued its impressive pace of infrastructure development, completing its ninth mandatory protocol upgrade, Protocol 26, by August 11. This hardening of contract security, state management, and cryptographic capabilities across 421,000 active nodes marks a significant step towards the final planned upgrade, Protocol 27.
Protocol 27, currently on testnet, introduces smart contract authentication, RPC server infrastructure, and automated market maker (AMM) liquidity pools. The Pi Core Team is targeting September 15 for mainnet deployment, which would make Pi one of the few blockchains with a native decentralized exchange operational from day one.
The Launchpad model, tested on testnet through two successive token launches, seeds DEX liquidity from token launch proceeds, providing bootstrapped liquidity rather than an empty order book. With 242,000 Pioneers committing 15.92 million Test-Pi toward token acquisition during the SLICE test tokens launch, the full Launchpad lifecycle has been tested and participation data gathered.
Despite its shipping record, Pi's market price remains stagnant at $0.090929, down more than 97% from its all-time high of $2.99 set on February 26, 2025. The supply headwind is structural, with approximately 1.21 billion PI tokens scheduled to unlock in 2026.