Pi Coin has dropped 33% in just a few hours, causing a wave of anger from the Pi Network community. The plunge follows the announcement of a $100 million venture capital fund – Pi Network Ventures – aimed at supporting DApp development on the platform. However, many “Pioneers” feel let down, as no functional decentralized applications have been released after six years of waiting.
Critics within the community, including a prominent figure known as Dr. Altcoin, accuse the Pi Core Team of ignoring user contributions. According to him, more than 94% of Pioneers failed to earn 1,000 Pi tokens due to the project’s restrictive reward mechanisms. “This is a betrayal,” Dr. Altcoin said. “We were promised 100 real DApps. After six years, there’s still nothing.”
He further criticized the team for focusing on external investments while failing to reward its original community – the very foundation of Pi Network. “We are not just users. We are the stakeholders. Pi Network wouldn’t exist without us,” he added.
The disappointment comes at a time when Pi Coin had briefly reached $1.5, pushing its market cap to over $11 billion and surpassing Litecoin. But the optimism was short-lived. Within days, the coin dropped to around $0.88, wiping out nearly $5 billion in value.
Additional pressure came from a 5.2 million Pi token unlock, sparking fears of increased volatility. Trading volume surged 35% to over $950 million as traders reacted swiftly to the market shock.
Despite the ambitious announcement, the backlash highlights a growing rift between the Pi Core Team and its global community of over 70 million users. As excitement fades, investors are now watching closely to see if Pi Coin can regain trust — and value.