Since the Pi Network mainnet went live in February 2025 and related assets entered public trading markets, the price performance of the PI token has continued to draw market attention. Compared with many crypto assets, PI’s price movements show clear stage-based characteristics: sharp volatility during the initial listing period, mid-term rebound attempts, followed by prolonged weakness.
By combining historical PI price data on Gate, this article analyzes the key factors behind PI’s price performance from the perspectives of market pricing mechanisms, participant structure, and stage-based expectations. This article does not involve price forecasts or investment advice.
When did PI token price weakness begin?
According to the PI-USDT candlestick chart on the Gate platform, PI began trading on February 17, 2025. Shortly after listing, the price surged rapidly and reached a short-term peak of approximately USD 3 on February 26.
Subsequently, PI’s price began to decline, falling to around USD 0.4 in April 2025. Although a rebound occurred in early May, with prices briefly rising above USD 1.6, the overall trend did not fundamentally change. Since mid-May 2025, PI has continued to trend downward, currently falling below USD 0.2, with no clear price support level formed.
From a time perspective, PI’s prolonged weakness was not triggered by a single event, but rather the result of multiple stage-based factors accumulating over time.
Why did PI experience sharp price volatility after listing?
The sharp price increase during PI’s initial trading period is closely related to the typical "price discovery phase" of newly listed assets.
Prior to listing, the market lacked continuous and transparent trading data, meaning price formation had not undergone sufficient market competition. Once PI entered secondary market trading, early transactions occurred in a low-liquidity environment, amplifying price movements. As a result, relatively small buy or sell orders were able to drive significant short-term price fluctuations.
At the same time, Pi Network had already accumulated substantial community attention before listing. The opening of trading prompted a concentrated influx of participants who had long followed the project, further boosting early trading activity. Under conditions of concentrated sentiment release and unstable pricing, rapid price appreciation during this phase had a certain stage-based rationale.
Why hasn’t Pi Network’s user scale directly supported PI’s price?
According to official Pi Network data and third-party sources, Pi Network has more than 60 million registered users. During the Open Mainnet phase, approximately 12–16 million users completed migration and identity verification (KYC). In addition, Pi Network’s official Twitter account has more than 4 million followers.
Although Pi Network has a large user base, user numbers alone do not directly translate into immediate market demand.
In price formation, what truly affects valuation is actual trading behavior, usage scenarios, and circulating supply structure, rather than raw registration or participation figures. In the early stages of a project, markets typically require time to observe whether users will continue engaging with the ecosystem and whether participation can convert into real usage demand.
Therefore, PI’s price not being directly supported by user scale reflects the market’s cautious stance toward how user numbers may eventually translate into economic value.
Impact of circulation expectations and supply structure on PI pricing
In crypto markets, prices reflect not only current supply and demand, but also expectations of future changes.
Regarding PI’s circulation pace and supply structure, the market has long maintained ongoing expectations and discussion. Before these paths become fully clear, some participants tend to act conservatively in trading decisions. Even before any actual changes occur, such expectations themselves can exert sustained pressure on price.
As a result, PI’s price behavior reflects conservative pricing formed under uncertainty, rather than a direct response to short-term supply-and-demand changes.
Interpreting PI’s price trend: from rebound attempts to continued weakness
After reaching local lows in April 2025, PI entered a consolidation phase and experienced a stage-based rebound in early May. Starting May 9, prices began to recover and briefly exceeded USD 1.6 on May 12.
This rebound primarily reflected short-term sentiment repair. After an extended decline, prices entered relatively low ranges, prompting some participants to trade based on short-term assessments, pushing prices upward.
However, subsequent price action did not establish sustained trend consensus. As market sentiment weakened again, PI re-entered a downward trajectory and gradually broke through multiple psychological levels, reflecting cautious market attitudes toward ongoing uncertainty.
Impact of the broader crypto market environment on PI pricing
PI’s current price performance must also be understood within the broader crypto market context.
Since 2025, crypto markets have shown clear structural divergence. Bitcoin, as the core crypto asset, broke previous highs and attracted significant capital inflows. In contrast, major public chain assets such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) delivered relatively limited performance and did not experience synchronized strength.
This divergence led market capital to concentrate in a small number of core assets. Under these conditions, the widely anticipated "altcoin season" has not yet fully materialized. Many mid- and small-cap or early-stage projects face suppressed trading activity and price performance, as capital allocation remains cautious.
For projects like PI that are still in a development observation phase, this market environment imposes stricter pricing logic. Before mainstream assets establish broad upward consensus, markets tend not to assign significant sentiment premiums to early-stage projects, thereby constraining price performance.
Additionally, when risk appetite lacks clear improvement signals, limited new capital inflows mean prices are more influenced by existing trading behavior, making PI more prone to low-volatility or weak trends during this stage.
How should PI’s current price level be understood within Pi Network’s development stage?
PI’s current price level resembles a stage-based equilibrium formed under multiple uncertainties.
It reflects both the gradual digestion of early high expectations and the market’s wait-and-see attitude ahead of clearer information. For projects still in development phases, such pricing behavior is not uncommon in the crypto industry.
Over the longer term, PI’s price trajectory will continue to depend on the project’s development progress, ecosystem construction, and broader market evolution.
How should PI’s future development be viewed?
It is important to emphasize that price movements alone should not be used as the sole basis for assessing a project’s future development.
From a project perspective, markets focus more on Pi Network’s actual progress in ecosystem development, use cases, and participation pathways. Only as these elements become clearer can the market reassess its value.
From a market perspective, participant attitudes toward PI remain observational. Until uncertainty diminishes, price behavior is likely to remain conservative.
Therefore, understanding PI’s current state is better approached through its development stage and market expectations, rather than short-term price fluctuations.
Conclusion
Since listing, PI’s price trajectory has shown distinct stages: initial volatility, gradual digestion of high expectations, stage-based rebounds, and the current observation-driven phase. Together, these elements form the overall outline of PI’s market performance.
For users, rationally understanding the structural factors behind these price movements helps provide a more comprehensive view of PI’s current position and market environment.
