Within the crypto world, the Pi Network, designed from the ground up for mobile phones, has certainly stirred up plenty of conversation and eagerness, most notably around its shift to an Open Mainnet. Let’s unpack the core ideas driving the project, examine its whitepaper promises, understand its mission, track its major steps forward, and follow the path it took to finally launch its Open Mainnet.
So, what’s Pi Network really all about? They started with a big idea: make crypto something anyone could get into. Forget needing fancy computers or a tech degree; Pi wanted everyday folks “mining” coins right on their phones, a world away from how Bitcoin works with all its power demands. They’re also shooting for a setup where no single boss calls the shots, using the energy-smart Stellar Consensus Protocol to make it happen.
Getting people on board meant keeping things simple, with an easy-to-use app and no confusing hurdles. Growing a big, active community was another cornerstone, partly through a ‘tell-a-friend’ system, and they want users to run nodes that keep transactions safe. They also thought about fairness in how coins get out, giving early birds a bit more Pi, with that rate dropping as more people joined.
Looking ahead, they dream of a whole world of apps and tools running on Pi coins. Their official goal? To create a crypto and smart contract system that regular people run and keep secure. Their bigger dream is to build the most welcoming peer-to-peer network and online space out there, all powered by Pi, which they hope will become the go-to crypto for everyone.
Pi Network’s Journey
Pi Network first laid out its plans on Pi Day, March 14, 2019, when they dropped their original whitepaper and officially kicked things off. Later, in December 2021, they fleshed out the details with new sections on how their tokens and mining would work, plus a clearer roadmap towards the Mainnet. These documents paint the picture of Pi’s big dreams, how it would be run, the economics of its coin, and why they picked the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) – mostly because it’s great for phone-based mining and doesn’t guzzle energy.
Their journey has been a step-by-step affair. It started with a Beta phase, which actually got going in December 2018 even if the big launch announcement was March 2019; this is when the first users, called “Pioneers,” could start mining Pi with the app. Then, March 2020 brought the Testnet, a crucial time for trying out the blockchain with nodes spread all over the world.
Finally, came the Mainnet stage, which itself had two parts. First was the Enclosed Mainnet, firing up on December 28, 2021; it was live, but with a firewall up to keep outside connections at bay. This gave them breathing room to get tons of users through KYC (Know Your Customer) checks and let the community start cooking up apps. The next big jump was to the Open Mainnet, where they’d tear down that firewall and let Pi connect freely with other networks, wallets, and places to trade.
How Does Pi Network Work?
So how does it actually work for users? A big part is the mobile mining – you just open the app and hit a button each day to show you’re active and earn Pi. They also built the Pi Browser, which is your door into Pi’s world of Web3 apps; it’s where you can play with these dApps and get to your Pi Wallet.
Getting everyone’s identity checked through KYC (Know Your Customer) has been a massive undertaking, but it’s vital for weeding out fake accounts and playing by the rules, especially before the Open Mainnet. And to help developers make a living, they’ve been working on a Pi Ad Network, so app creators can earn money from their work inside the Pi system.
Under the hood, Pi Network runs on a tweaked version of the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), something David Mazières originally cooked up. Think of SCP as a way to get quick, cheap transactions because it leans on a web of trusted nodes – it’s a type of Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA).
How it works is that every node picks its own little trusted crew, called “quorum slices.” For any transaction to get the green light, enough of these interconnected crews need to give their nod. Pi puts this into action with “Security Circles,” which are small groups of 3 to 5 people you trust, that you build yourself. All these circles together weave a worldwide web of trust that helps confirm transactions, meaning regular folks can actually help keep the network safe. It’s a whole different ballgame compared to Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work, which eats up electricity, or Proof-of-Stake systems where having more computing muscle or staked coins often means more say.
As for the coins themselves, there will only ever be 100 billion Pi, with the lion’s share (80%) going to the community and the remaining 20% to the Pi Core Team.
Pi Network’s Execution Timeline
Everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting for Pi to fully open its Mainnet. Back in December 2023, the Core Team said they were aiming for a 2024 launch, but only if three big things fell into place.
First, they needed all the tech, product, business, and legal ducks in a row – basically, get everything ready behind the scenes for the Open Network. Second, the network itself had to hit some serious milestones with KYC checks, getting people moved over to the Mainnet, and having useful apps up and running. They were shooting for 15 million users verified by KYC, 10 million actually on the Mainnet, and at least 100 real Pi apps either live or good to go. And third, they needed the world stage to be relatively calm, admitting that huge global shake-ups could throw a wrench in the works.
As 2024 rolled on, Pi Network kept sharing updates on how they were doing. Come Pi2Day, June 28, 2024, they’d managed to get 12 million Pioneers through KYC, with 5.8 million of them moved onto the Mainnet. Then, on December 19, 2024, the Core Team had to tweak the schedule, letting everyone know the Open Network would now go live in the first quarter of 2025. They explained this shift was to give more Pioneers a chance to make the Mainnet switch and hit that 10 million migration target.
By then, KYC numbers had climbed to 18 million, and 8 million were on Mainnet. They also gave people more time for KYC, pushing the deadline out, finally settling on February 28, 2025. Just before that, around February 11, 2025, word got out that Pi Network had actually smashed its goals: 19 million Pioneers had their identities confirmed, a cool 10.14 million were on the Mainnet, and there were over 100 apps ready for action.
And then, the big day arrived: February 20, 2025, at 8:00 AM UTC, Pi Network flipped the switch to its Open Network Mainnet. That move marked the end of the walled-off Enclosed Network, finally letting Pi connect to the wider world. Soon after, big names in crypto exchanges like OKX, Bitget, and MEXC started saying they’d support or list the Pi token. HTX, which had been letting people trade Pi IOUs (basically ‘I Owe You’ notes for Pi), pulled those and said they’d list the actual Pi coin instead.
Fast forward to May 2025, and Pi Network is now living in its Open Mainnet era. You can bet the team is now hard at work growing the ecosystem, making sure Pi has real uses, and giving developers the tools they need. Word on the street is that over 12 million users have now been verified. Interestingly, even after this launch, some folks were still looking at the second half of 2025 for a fuller Mainnet rollout, depending on how quickly KYC and the app world continued to shape up – hinting that things are always evolving. Plus, Pi Network is set to make an appearance at Consensus 2025, ready to show off its Open Mainnet and mix it up with the rest of the crypto crowd.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Pi Network, even with tons of users and big dreams. The long wait for the Open Mainnet to finally arrive definitely tried the patience of some in the community. Some folks out there have also poked holes in how open Pi has been, wondering about the real count of people actively using it. For ages, because you couldn’t trade Pi on big exchanges, what it was actually worth in dollars and cents was anyone’s guess. And even now that it’s out, the price has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Plus, that all-important KYC process, as necessary as it is, created some headaches and hold-ups for users trying to get verified.
When you step back, Pi Network is really one big attempt to bring cryptocurrency to the masses. They’ve pulled in a huge crowd from all over the globe by making it easy to use on a phone, keeping the app straightforward, and really focusing on building a community. Getting to the Open Mainnet in February 2025 was a huge leap forward. Now, whether Pi truly makes it big will come down to if they can grow a lively ecosystem full of useful stuff, skillfully ride the wild waves of the crypto market, and keep listening to and sorting out what worries their users.
