Pi Network Has 35 Million Users but Its Token Still Struggles With Liquidity
Pi Network ranked 51st globally by cryptocurrency market capitalization on May 17, with a $1.7 billion market cap and a PI token price near $0.60. The project claims more than 35 million users who accumulated PI through a mobile application that described its activity as mining, though the mechanism differs substantially from proof-of-work systems.
Despite its market cap rank, PI trades with thin order book depth on most major exchanges, a structural gap that has persisted since the project opened its token to external markets.
What Pi Network Is
Pi Network is a mobile application that allowed users to earn PI tokens by opening the app daily and pressing a button the project called mining. The actual consensus mechanism is a variant of the Stellar Consensus Protocol, a federated Byzantine agreement system that does not require significant computational work.
The project was founded in 2019 by Stanford computer scientists Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan. It built its user base by offering free token accumulation through a referral-driven growth model before any external market existed for PI.
The project launched its open mainnet in February 2025 after several years of operating a closed mainnet where tokens could not be transferred externally.
The open mainnet transition allowed users to migrate their mined balances and created conditions for PI to trade on exchanges for the first time. At launch, the token opened above $1.50 before retreating sharply as early holders sold into the new liquidity.
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The Liquidity Problem in Detail
Market cap rank 51 implies a project comparable in scale to established protocols like Uniswap (UNI) and Filecoin (FIL).
The comparison breaks down at the order book level. PI’s daily trading volume relative to its market cap sits well below the ratios typical of assets in the top 60.
That low volume-to-market-cap ratio means even moderate sell orders can move the price significantly.
The liquidity problem has a structural cause. Pi Network accumulated 35 million user accounts, each holding PI balances earned through the mobile app over multiple years.
When the open mainnet launched in February 2025, that supply became transferable. Large portions of the float are held by early users who paid nothing for their tokens and carry zero cost basis.
Their incentive to sell at almost any positive price creates persistent downward pressure on thin books.
Exchange listings compound the issue. PI is not listed on Coinbase (COIN) as of May 2026.
The token’s availability on tier-1 Western exchanges is limited compared to other top-60 assets. A Coinbase listing would add order book depth and access for U.S. retail buyers, which the project has sought but not secured.
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Background: Mobile Mining and the Free Token Model
The concept of earning cryptocurrency through a mobile app without energy-intensive hardware attracted tens of millions of users to Pi Network between 2019 and 2025.
The referral model accelerated growth: each new user who joined through an existing user’s invitation link boosted the inviter’s earning rate.
This growth mechanic created a user base with unusually high token concentration among early participants. Users who joined in 2019 and 2020 accumulated far more PI than those who joined in 2023 or 2024, because the earning rate declined as the network grew.
The concentration of early holdings is a direct input into the liquidity and selling pressure dynamics the token faces today.
Other mobile-first cryptocurrency projects have attempted similar models. Worldcoin (WLD), which distributes its Worldcoin (WLD) token through biometric iris scanning, faces its own distribution and liquidity debates. The common thread is that free token distribution at scale creates large float with low cost basis, which complicates price stability after external markets open.
CoinGecko’s market data for PI shows the token’s current price, volume, and market cap in real time.
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What Would Change the Picture
Three developments would materially improve PI’s market structure.
A Coinbase listing would add U.S. retail access and order book depth immediately. A credible use-case announcement for PI within the Pi Network ecosystem would give holders a reason to retain tokens rather than sell into any liquidity.
And a reduction in the circulating supply growth rate, as more early users complete the KYC process required to migrate their tokens, would slow the flow of new sell-side supply.
The project’s roadmap includes developer tools to build applications within the Pi ecosystem, which could create organic demand for PI if adopted. Without that demand, the token’s $1.7 billion market cap rests primarily on brand recognition and user count rather than protocol utility, a foundation that other large projects have struggled to convert into durable price support.
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