Is Pi Network worth it?
Another craze has yet again resurrected from the past and its not your usual top altcoin gem or NFT collectible. It’s Pi Network and it’s been going around a lot recently from social media groups to personal IG stories claiming to be the next Bitcoin or the next 10x token. But what is it really? This 2019 project started between three (well… two now) individuals from Stanford. Let’s dive into this with TL;DR at the end.
What is Pi Network?
Pi Network (Pi) builds its business model around the “Mining” space, but to understand that we first need to understand what is a Blockchain through Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin Blockchain is a distributed and transparent digital ledger secured and maintained by nodes usually called “Miners”. They work under a “Proof-of-work” consensus and provides their computing capabilities to solve a “Hash” that secures a block of information on the blockchain. Once a miner solves the Hash, they are rewarded the native token (In the Bitcoin Blockchain, you are awarded Bitcoin)
To be a miner you need to setup a rig which is typically GPUs combined together and programmed to provide efficient computing power to the blockchain. A good build would need at least $1000 USD minimum for a rig with good ROI.
This is where Pi comes in with a solution. Instead of buying humongous rigs, you become a miner by just using your phone. Crazy right? Your handheld device capable to solve and secure a blockchain. The theory is instead of “Proof-of-work”, Pi Network secures its ledger through the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) where security of the protocol is purely through community votes in a consensus or a trusted network. A user becomes a node and casts a vote on the transactions requesting to be included in the block. Just check in every 24 hours in the application and you automatically become a node for verifying the network and earn Pi, the native token. You also earn more Pi by inviting more users to your security circle (This makes it like Multi-Level Marketing) but make sure you get a code to someone who is active as getting linked to an inactive user/miner slows your mining progress. You can do boost your mining rate by joining other active miners or getting your friends and family involved. Since verification is done through a trusted network, you don’t need to stay in the application 24/7 and don’t need to keep your phone open.
Tokenomics
The Pi Token has yet to be released in any marketplace or exchange for trading. The Developers are still discerning the maximum supply for the Pi Network despite being listed in top cryptocurrency token websites before such as Coinmarketcap or Coingecko so all users minting Pi tokens/using the app are stuck with 0 or an untradable coin.
Use Case
Given it cannot be traded yet, the best thing to use Pi token is peer-to-peer exchange (Send Pi then receive Pi) for goods or services in the Pi Network. There are retail stores out there accepting Pi as payment but utilizing their own valuation.
Pi network to $10?
If you go to social media pages in Facebook or Instagram you can see on how people are predicting Pi Network to reach $10/coin. Well the first thing to ask is how did they derive those numbers? The only thing going for them right now is hey have over 10M+ downloads for their mobile app and a high rating that reached the number 1 spot for the top free social applications. No one can say for sure if Pi can reach $10 as we have no distinct supply given its development but it seems like it would be kind of a magic fairytale for that to happen. Well, anything can happen in crypto
At the end of the day, there are no certainties when it comes to cryptocurrencies and to Pi Network. Apart from some wasted time, you’ve got very little to lose. Of course, it might not amount to anything, but if it achieves its targets then it will be quite something. And in that situation, getting in early could eventually pay off.
