Coin columns · Mainnet Province
Pi Network (PI): From a Phone ‘Mining’ App to an Open Mainnet
Tap-to-mine phone app, an open mainnet in 2025, and debate
Pi Network gathered users with a phone app that hands out coins when you tap a button once a day. After years of preparation it opened its mainnet to the outside world in February 2025, and PI began trading on exchanges.
1. Who built it
Pi Network was created by Stanford PhD graduates including Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan, who released the app on ‘Pi Day’, 14 March 2019. Their stated aim was to let anyone take part in crypto from a phone, without expensive hardware. The app’s large worldwide user base is the project’s biggest asset, and a Core Team led by the founders runs it.
Users, called Pioneers, tap a button every 24 hours to continue a mining session, and earn more by inviting friends or forming ‘security circles’ of people they trust. This ‘mining’ is not Bitcoin-style computation; coins are handed out according to participation. On the Crypto Nation map, PI stands in the ‘own chain’ quarter of the Mainnet Province, because it is a mainnet coin with its own blockchain.
2. How it works
Pi’s blockchain is based on the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP). Instead of a computing race, nodes exchange votes with other nodes they have chosen to trust in order to agree on the order of transactions. Some users also run node software to help operate the network.
Moving app-earned coins to the mainnet requires identity verification (KYC), much of it assisted by other users acting as validators; delays in this process drew many complaints. Maximum supply is fixed at 100 billion PI, with most set aside for mining rewards and the rest for a foundation reserve and the Core Team, among others.
3. Milestones
Pi started an ‘enclosed mainnet’ in December 2021, during which coins could move only inside the ecosystem and could not trade on exchanges. After more than three years, it switched to an ‘open network’ on 20 February 2025, letting coins move to outside wallets and exchanges.
In May 2025 it announced Pi Network Ventures, a 100-million-dollar fund for ecosystem projects, and it has expanded app-building tools and the app ecosystem inside the Pi Browser. Around 28 June (‘2π Day’) each year it holds an event to announce features and plans.
4. Things to know
Pi has long been criticised for slow development, late code releases and control concentrated in the Core Team. A large share of supply sits with the foundation and team, and users’ coins unlock in stages, so the amount reaching the market can keep growing.
Its referral rewards and in-app advertising drew comparisons with multi-level marketing, and some national authorities have warned about scams using Pi’s name. As the sharp price swings right after the open-network switch showed, PI also has only a short trading history.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.