Pi Network (PI) Temporarily Shuts Down Key Services Today: A Reason to Worry?

TL;DR

• Pi Network has planned another upgrade that will cause some complications for users. The announcement hasn’t rattled the PI community, with many members insisting the team should instead prioritize fixing KYC issues and pursue other goals.
• PI’s price has headed south again, further pressured by upcoming token unlocks.

A Brief Disruption

The team behind Pi Network revealed on its official X account that it will perform a scheduled upgrade later today (September 25). As a result, sign-ins and sign-ups will be temporarily disabled during this period

The upcoming process did not cause any panic across the PI community, with many members arguing that the project has much bigger problems to solve.

One X user urged the team to fix the ongoing issues surrounding the verification process and work towards a listing on a major crypto exchange (like Binance, for example).

Another claimed that the potential implementation of a burning mechanism might be quite beneficial for the project’s native token, which has been in a major decline over the past several months.

Today’s scheduled operation isn’t the only recent development for Pi Network. Earlier this month, the project’s testnet was upgraded to Protocol v23 – a custom-built enhancement that gives users greater control and unlocks new functionalities.

Prior to that, the team introduced Fast Track KYC – a solution launched through the further integration of AI in the Know-Your-Customer process, which enables Pioneers to participate in the Mainnet ecosystem “earlier than ever before.”

PI Price Outlook

Despite its brief resurgence on September 24, the asset has headed south again and currently trades at around $0.27 (according to CoinGecko’s data), representing a 5% decline over the past 24 hours

Some of the factors that may have negatively impacted its performance include the overall plunge of the crypto market, the aforementioned announcement regarding disrupted services, and the impending token unlocks in the next month.

Data shows that more than 137 million PI will be freed up within that period, with October 1 being the record day (13.2 million coins). This development doesn’t guarantee a mass exodus, but it does raise selling pressure and could prompt more investors to offload their positions.

PI Token Unlocks, Source: piscan.ioOn the other hand, numerous analysts remain optimistic that PI can soon return to the green track. X user Nehal envisioned a rally in the next few months that could take the price to as high as $1.50 before the end of 2025.