Pi Network Rocked by Insider Selling Scandal—Crypto Purists Demand ’Proof of Trust’

Rumors swirl as anonymous dev wallets dump millions of pre-mined PI tokens—just as retail miners hit their third ’halving’ event. The timing? Impeccably terrible.

Behind the bleeding charts: Core team members allegedly cashed out during the recent testnet-to-mainnet transition. Community moderators scramble to delete forum threads while the usual moonboys scream ’FUD.’

Meanwhile, VC-backed rivals chuckle—their ICOs at least had the decency to rob investors transparently.

The 12 Million PI Coin Transfer Raises Suspicions

At the beginning of May, PI was trading at $0.61, and on May 12th, it surged to $1.67, marking a significant increase. According to on-chain data compiled by Atlas, the main wallet, alleged to be connected to the team, was found to have transferred 12 million PI coins to exchanges during the same period. At that time, the total market value was calculated to be eight billion dollars, sparking “inside-fed pump” speculations in the market. The researcher’s call to “watch the wallets, not the announcements” was shared thousands of times on social media.

Within just forty-eight hours, the PI coin price dropped by more than 40%. At the time of writing, it is trading at around $0.73. New investors, who entered the market with a dazzling rise, are stunned by the sharp correction.

Atlas described the timing of the coin transfer, the wallet matches, and the lack of official announcements as elements of a “classic cryptocurrency pump-and-dump” scheme. According to the researcher, Pi Network planned a massive sale behind the scenes, using mass adoption as a facade.

Pi Network Community Divided: Migration or Dump?

A portion of the Pi Network community defends the coin transfer as a routine migration from the testnet to the mainnet. They point out that such transitions are included in the roadmap indicated by the team. They believe the transferred PIs were not sold but merely moved between Blockchains during the migration process, attributing the price drop to general market volatility.

The critics, however, find this explanation unconvincing. They highlight factors such as the closed-source code, the zero number of functioning dApps, and the relatively low number of active wallets compared to the total number of users, emphasizing a high level of mistrust. Moreover, given the clear on-chain relationship between the transferring wallet and the Pi Core team, the “routine” statement is insufficient to allay suspicions. Atlas and its supporters insist on the notion of “community funds being quietly exhausted” and reiterate the call for independent audits.