OKX Launches PI/USDC Trading Pair - Liquidity Surge or Price Plunge Ahead?

OKX shakes up the altcoin market with its latest pairing—PI now trades directly against USDC. The move targets deeper liquidity pools but risks amplifying existing volatility.

Traders Get New Options

PI holders gain immediate access to stablecoin conversions without hopping through multiple trading pairs. That means tighter spreads—in theory—and reduced slippage on larger orders.

Market Impact Questions

Will fresh liquidity stabilize PI's price action or simply give whales more efficient exit routes? History shows new pairings often trigger short-term volatility spikes before equilibrium returns.

Another day, another pairing—because what crypto really needed was more ways to trade speculative assets against digital dollars while traditional finance chuckles from the sidelines.

OKX Introduces Pi Coin’s New USDC Pair Amid Falling Market Interest 

It is worth noting that OKX was the first exchange to list Pi Coin shortly after its Open Network launch. The exchange also dominates the coin’s daily trading volume.

Data from CoinMarketCap showed that PI’s trading volume was $54 million at press time, of which 37.2% originated from OKX. Furthermore, on August 21, the exchange introduced the PI/USDC trading pair. 

The move aims to enhance Pi’s trading opportunities and boost liquidity. It has also amplified Optimism among the Pi network community, or Pioneers.

“This new pair brings higher liquidity, higher adoption, and stronger growth to the PI ecosystem!” a user wrote.

New news updated $Pi@PiCoreTeam @nkokkalis @Chengdiao @okx(OKX) has added PI/USDC trading pair instead of just PI/USDT.
Just be patient, after open source there will be Smart Contract and Defi.#PiNetwork pic.twitter.com/mka8YYzxas

However, this launch coincides with troubling market trends for Pi Network. According to CoinMarketCap, PI’s trading volume has sharply plunged, dropping from $18 billion in March to $2.6 billion in July.

This 85% reduction reflects waning investor interest. Furthermore, this trend is exacerbated by a 50% increase in exchange reserves since March. BeInCrypto reported previously that the reserves reached 409 million PI in August.

The network’s latest launch of the Pi Hackathon 2025 has failed to reverse this momentum. In fact, the event has attracted substantial criticism from the community.

Moreover, BeInCrypto highlighted that PI’s social dominance has slipped to a weekly low. It reflects a decline in the project’s visibility or popularity on social media and online platforms.

But the important drop is related to the price. Even amid a broader bull run, PI has failed to gain momentum. The altcoin is just 7.7% away from its all-time low of $0.33 recorded on August 6.

At the time of writing, Pi Coin was trading at $0.36, down 0.9% over the past day. If the current downward trend continues, it likely that PI WOULD return to its ATL or drop even lower.

Notably, the new USDC pair, while offering an additional liquidity channel, may inadvertently amplify these challenges. Pioneers and investors had hoped the pairing would attract fresh capital and stabilize prices, but the current market dynamics suggest otherwise. 

Without a corresponding increase in demand, the pair risks becoming another avenue for PI  to exit the market, turning a strategic move into a potential liability.