Pi Network’s $10 Dream: Pipe Dream or Imminent Reality?

Can a crypto project mined on smartphones actually hit double digits? Pi Network's army of 'miners' are betting their spare battery life on it.

The hype vs. reality check

Mainnet launch delays, exchange listing limbo, and that nagging question—if everyone's mining for free, where's the scarcity? Yet true believers point to the 35 million-strong user base (and counting) as proof this isn't just another vaporware coin.

The $10 make-or-break

Hitting that psychological price point would require a market cap north of $350 billion—putting it in Bitcoin's league. Either the greatest grassroots adoption story ever told, or the mother of all sell-the-news events when IOU markets finally convert to real trading pairs.

Wall Street would call this 'hopium.' Crypto Twitter calls it 'early.' Place your bets—just maybe not with your retirement fund.

Mainnet launch, controversies and more…

The open mainnet launch didn’t bring the expected windfall though. After a brief spike, the price cratered. In fact, some reports claimed an 84% crash, as those who got in early rushed for the exits. By summer 2025, the coin was struggling to stay above fifty cents on the few platforms listing it or its IOUs.

This was the case at the time of writing too, with the altcoin valued at $0.41 after falling from $2.80.

Source: TradingView

Pi Network has always operated under a cloud of controversy. Critics point to a lack of genuine transparency, with the Core team holding tight control over the network’s nodes and delaying features like smart contracts for years. The referral system, which heavily rewarded bringing in new people, has drawn constant comparisons to multi-level marketing.

Then there’s the massive data collection – Millions handed over government IDs and face scans for the mandatory KYC process, raising serious privacy alarms. Looming over everything is the threat from regulators like the SEC, who might see Pi not as a utility but as an unregistered security, triggering a legal nightmare.

Pi’s greatest weapon is its colossal community, which numbers over 65 million people. That’s a built-in user base that most crypto projects can only dream of, and initiatives like “PiFest” are trying to spark real-world use. However, that same crowd is also its biggest liability.

For every believer holding on for dear life, there’s another early user sitting on a pile of free coins, tempted to cash out. This creates a constant, crushing sell pressure that could keep the price pinned down for a long time.

So, can PI ever reach $10? It WOULD require a miracle of market demand, flawless execution, and a whole lot of luck. The project needs to prove it’s more than just a popular app. It needs to become a truly useful ecosystem that makes people want to use Pi, not just sell it.

Until that happens, the $10 goal feels less like a target and more like a prayer in the wild world of crypto.