Pi Network’s May 23 Update: Mobile Mining Project Hits New Milestones—Or Just More Hype?

Pi Network’s latest update drops as the crypto world watches—some with hope, others with skepticism. Can this mobile-mining darling deliver, or is it just another ’revolution’ that’ll leave bagholders sighing?

Breaking down the buzz: The team reportedly hit another user-growth target today, though skeptics note mainnet delays still loom. Meanwhile, the ’free crypto’ pitch keeps attracting newcomers—whether that translates to real adoption remains the billion-Pi question.

Finance jab of the day: At least Pi’s inflationary model is honest—unlike your neighborhood central bank’s ’transitory’ inflation narrative.

The Multi-Million-Dollar Initiative

Pi Network made the headlines on May 8 by teasing its community about an upcoming announcement that WOULD be released in the following days.

The development in question was not mentioned, which allowed industry participants to speculate freely. Some of the guesses included a potential listing of PI on Binance – a MOVE that wouldn’t lack merit since the company previously asked its users if they wanted to see the asset available on the platform.

On May 14, the team behind Pi Network lifted the curtain, disclosing the launch of a $100 million initiative (held in PI and USD) to invest in startups and businesses that could boost PI’s progress and adoption. 

They shed further details by explaining that PI Network Ventures (as the initiative is called) was created “with the Pioneer community at its heart.” They also said it would provide more utility for PI, strengthen the entire ecosystem, incentivize high-quality integrations, and put network effects in action. 

If you’re interested in gaining a deeper understanding of these significant points, please take a look at our more comprehensive article here.

Kraken Joins the List

PI began trading on February 20, and initially, the exchanges that embraced the asset included Bitget, OKX, and others. Most recently, Kraken also showed support, allowing perpetual futures with up to 20x leverage.

$PI @PiCoreTeam perpetual futures now live with up to 20x leverage

Why choose Kraken Pro futures:

40+ collateral options
360+ markets

Open PI perp https://t.co/NHHpKobugb

*geo restrictions apply pic.twitter.com/aiJrJRbxW4

— Kraken Pro (@krakenpro) May 23, 2025

PI Held on Exchanges 

Earlier this week, the popular X user MOON JEFF revealed that the number of PI tokens stored on cryptocurrency exchanges had reached a peak level of almost 400 million. A significant portion of more than 117 million assets was held on OKX, while Bitget came second with a stash of over 107 million.

As of this writing, though, things look much different as the total number of PI tokens on exchanges is less than 310 million. Furthermore, OKX is no longer the leader on this front, as its balance has shrunk to roughly 21.6 million.

Just a few days ago, some X users argued that more than 86 million tokens were taken out from the crypto platform in a matter of hours. 

The reduced amount of PI stored on exchanges could be interpreted as a bullish signal. After all, this might suggest that investors have moved from centralized platforms toward self-custody methods, which reduces the immediate selling pressure.

Price Outlook

PI is currently worth around $0.78 (per CoinGecko’s data), which represents a 10% weekly decline and a whopping 74% crash from the all-time high of almost $3 observed in late February. 

However, numerous analysts and community members remain optimistic about the asset’s future price performance. The X user Whale Guru expects PI “to pump like crazy next week,” setting $3 as a “minimum” target.

For their part, MOON JEFF claimed that dumping tokens right now “is not a good option.” He also thinks that “buying more is the only way.”

Investors contemplating whether to hop on the bandwagon should keep in mind the extreme volatility of the asset and the upcoming token unlocks. Over 280 million PI (worth around $220 million) are scheduled for release next month. May 28 will be the record day when 15.1 million tokens will be freed up.

The aforementioned development could negatively affect the price since it will allow investors to sell tokens they’ve been waiting for.