TL;DR

Pi Network is rolling out protocol upgrades, aiming to boost stability, performance, and introduce protocol-level KYC features. Despite the progress, PI is in red territory today, while the multi-million token unlocks scheduled for the next month and the major supply stored on exchanges signal heavy potential selling pressure.

Moving Forward as Scheduled

The controversial crypto project, officially launched in 2019, continues to make adjustments and implement developments to strengthen its ecosystem.

Most recently, the X account Pi News revealed that Pi Network is gradually upgrading from protocol v19 to v23, covering Testnet, Testnet2, and Mainnet. Moreover, the Testnet has been successfully upgraded to v22. 

The goal is to improve performance and network stability, thereby enabling further ecosystem advancements. Earlier this month, the projects team explained that Version 23 is based on Stellar v23, but its custom-made for Pi Network. 

It aims to provide users with more control and a few functionalities, including Know-Your-Customer (KYC) authorities into the protocol that will maintain PI as a KYC-verified blockchain, while offering a more distributed community-driven KYC process at the protocol level.

Some users commenting on the latest progress news claimed verifications remain an issue. Will this improve KYC approvals? They need to hurry the hell up and purge all UNVERIFIED Pi that doesnt have KYC so we can go back to 1 dollar, one person asked.

PI Price Outlook

Despite the latest upgrade status, the native token of the crypto project remains in red territory today (September 15). As of this writing, it trades at approximately $0.34 (per CoinGeckos data), which is a staggering 88% decline compared to the all-time high of around $3 registered at the start of the year.

And while some community members believe that PI could mark a significant revival in the short term, important metrics signal that the pullback may even intensify.

Data indicates that over 137 million tokens will be unlocked within the next 30 days, providing an opportunity for people to offload coins they have been waiting for a long time, thereby increasing sell pressure.

PI Token Unlocks, Source: piscan.io In addition, the amount of PI stored on crypto exchanges continues to rise and is currently above 440 million. Almost half of that stash is stored on Gate.io, while Bitget comes in second with 147 million. 

This suggests that many investors have transitioned from self-custody methods to centralized platforms, which is often interpreted as a pre-sale step.