TL;DR

Pi Network postponed its KYC and migration deadline to February 28, 2025, with the Open Network expected in Q1 this year. Despite the constant delays, the project sees rising interest, with recent community gatherings in India, Nigeria, and China.

Whats New?

Instead of launching its long-awaited native token and open mainnet, Pi Network the cryptocurrency project that claims to enable people to mine digital assets directly from their smartphones continues to make different announcements. 

Several months ago, the team assured that the aforementioned milestones would occur once 15 million users pass the necessary Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verifications and successfully migrate to the mainnet. The deadline for that (known as the Grace Period) was set for January 31 but was later moved to February 28.

The KYC and Mainnet migration deadlines for the Grace Period have been extended to February 28, 2025, ensuring Pioneers have additional time and opportunity to secure their Pi, the developers explained.

Another reason behind the extension could be the issues that some users experience when trying to abide by the rules. To ease their efforts, Pi Network issued two key updates last week. 

The team stated that users with mismatched Pi accounts and KYC names typically face rejection due to ownership verification failure. However, they can appeal to resubmit their application or update their info, though this comes with a penalty of losing part of their Mobile Balance. It is worth mentioning that only those who had their KYC rejected for name mismatches and had a single denied appeal are eligible.

Pi Network also allowed minor phone number corrections up to two digits to prevent misuse like account transfers or hacks.

Meanwhile, the developers aim to launch the Open Network during the first three months of 2025. They said the development could occur before or after the Grace Period ends, urging users to submit their KYC applications and complete migration procedures as quickly as possible. 

The Growing Community

Despite the surrounding controversy and uncertainty, Pi Network continues attracting new members to its community. Over the past several weeks, there has been a surge of gatherings in different countries, such as India and Nigeria. 

Most recently, the Chinese community also organized a similar event. According to Pi News, this happened in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, where a large number of goods were sold out on site using Pi payment.

Other Asian nations where the project is particularly popular are South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, and others. Wu Blockchain reported last year that Pi Networks users in South Korea surpassed 1.3 million, outpacing the local customer base of major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.