Pi Network Becomes a Sleeping Giant! Protocol 23 Stuck on Testnet, Experts Slam Upgrade Delayed Until 2026

Cryptocurrency commentator Dr. Altcoin recently stated that Pi Network still resembles a “sleeping giant” due to the core team’s slow progress. He pointed out that Protocol 23 is still stuck in the testnet phase, and “at this pace, major updates like the PiDEX upgrade are unlikely to happen before Q2 or Q3 of 2026.”

Protocol 23 Delays Become Community’s Biggest Pain Point

(Source: Pi)

The biggest controversy currently facing Pi Network is the severe delay in the development of Protocol 23. Protocol 23 is a key milestone for Pi Network’s mainnet upgrade, promising faster transaction speeds, lower fees, and crucial features such as a decentralized exchange (PiDEX). However, since the upgrade was announced in early 2024, it remains in the testnet phase and has yet to be deployed to the mainnet.

Dr. Altcoin’s criticism represents growing dissatisfaction within the community. He notes that at this pace, major updates like the PiDEX upgrade are unlikely to be implemented before Q2 or Q3 of 2026. This means it will take at least another year and a half from now to see the core features promised by Pi Network go live. For a project that’s been operating for over six years, this development speed is indeed hard to accept.

The delay of Protocol 23 is not only a technical issue but also a matter of trust. One of Pi Network’s main selling points is “mobile mining” and its “massive user base,” claiming over 50 million registered users. However, if these users are unable to access mature on-chain features, this huge user base cannot be translated into actual ecosystem value. Users have been stuck in a “waiting for the mainnet to fully open” state, and this uncertainty is testing the patience of the community.

From a technical perspective, keeping the protocol upgrade in the testnet phase for an extended period may have its reasons. The testnet is designed to discover and fix potential security vulnerabilities and performance issues—rushing to go live could lead to disastrous consequences. However, the Pi Network team lacks a transparent development roadmap and progress updates, making it impossible for outsiders to judge whether the delay is due to caution or lack of capability.

Three Major Concerns Triggered by Protocol 23 Delays

Doubts about Technical Ability: Does the team have the capability to complete complex blockchain upgrades?

Resource Allocation Issues: Are development resources sufficient, or are they being distracted by other projects?

Lack of Transparency: Lack of a clear development roadmap and progress reports

These delays also affect the developer ecosystem. Many third-party developers hope to build dApps and services on Pi Network, but the unstable protocol and incomplete features make it impossible for them to truly commit. This creates a vicious cycle: slow protocol upgrades deter developers; a lack of developer engagement leads to a lack of ecosystem applications; without applications, users leave and prices decline.

2% Drop Against the Trend: Market Cap Evaporates and Liquidity Dries Up

Despite overall strength in the cryptocurrency market, Pi Network is facing downward pressure. Pi coin trades around $0.2297, down more than 2% in 24 hours. This countertrend performance is particularly notable because major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum recorded positive returns that day, and the overall market sentiment was optimistic. Pi Network’s decline shows its correlation with the broader market is weakening, which is not a good sign as it means the market sees Pi as an asset driven by independent negative factors.

The token failed to hold the key $0.25 resistance level, which also coincides with the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level. In technical analysis, 0.618 is the golden ratio, widely regarded as a key support or resistance level. Pi has tried multiple times to break above $0.25, all ending in failure, suggesting heavy selling pressure above that price. Early miners may be taking profits at this level, or the market may believe that Pi Network’s valuation ceiling is in this range.

Pi’s market cap has dropped to $1.91 billion, with trading volume down over 16%. The sharp decline in trading volume is a more worrying signal. Price drops may be a short-term correction, but shrinking volume means market participation and liquidity are declining. When an asset’s volume continues to fall, it usually indicates waning investor interest. A 16% drop in volume combined with a 2% price decline shows that while selling pressure isn’t intense, buying interest is equally weak.

From a market cap perspective, $1.91 billion keeps Pi Network among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap. However, this valuation is mainly built on its massive user base and future potential expectations, rather than actual ecosystem value. If Protocol 23 continues to be delayed, the market may reassess the validity of this valuation, and further downside cannot be ignored.

Three Technical Signals Behind Pi Network’s Weak Price Performance

Failure at $0.25 Resistance: Multiple failed attempts to break through, heavy selling pressure above

16% Drop in Trading Volume: Market participation and liquidity continue to decline

Falling Against the Trend: Pi drops while Bitcoin and Ethereum rise, indicating independent negative factors

On-chain data shows that the number of active addresses on Pi Network has also declined over the past month. While the number of registered users continues to grow, the number of addresses actually transacting on-chain is falling. This divergence between registered and active users indicates that many have signed up for Pi mining but lost interest in the project’s actual development and are not truly participating in the ecosystem.

Can the CiDi Games Partnership Become a Turning Point?

Despite internal delays, Pi Network announced a strategic partnership with CiDi Games, a developer focused on Web3 games. The collaboration includes investment from Pi Network Ventures—its second major investment after backing AI robot company OpenMind AGI. The partnership is expected to bring more real-world use cases to the Pi ecosystem, especially in gaming and user engagement.

The strategic significance of this partnership is to provide Pi with practical use cases. For a long time, Pi Network has been criticized as “mining only, with no use,” with users accumulating large amounts of Pi coins but nowhere to spend them. If CiDi Games can develop engaging Web3 games and use Pi as the in-game currency, it will create real demand for the token and a burn mechanism.

However, the community’s reaction to the partnership has been relatively lukewarm. Many believe that, rather than investing in external gaming companies, the focus should be on completing Protocol 23. While gaming applications are important, if the underlying blockchain is unstable and features incomplete, even the best applications are just castles in the air. This issue of resource allocation priorities further intensifies doubts about the team’s decision-making capabilities.

Pi Network Ventures’ investment strategy has also sparked discussion. Its first investment was OpenMind AGI, and the second is CiDi Games—both external projects. Some community members question why these funds aren’t used to hire more blockchain developers to accelerate Protocol 23’s development. This strategy of allocating limited resources to external partnerships rather than internal development may reflect a lack of confidence in the team’s technical abilities.

Valuation Disconnect: Is Pi Misunderstood or Overvalued?

Not everyone is discouraged. A Pi community commentator has put forward a contrarian argument, claiming that Pi Network is actually addressing the real issues facing the crypto industry today. The market generally expects prices to soar once ETFs launch, regulation improves, and institutions like Wall Street enter the space. But in reality, many blockchains have performed poorly after gaining institutional attention.

They argue that the market is now gradually realizing a harsh reality: cryptocurrency valuations are disconnected from reality. Most blockchains have grand narratives but lack real users. Pi Network, on the other hand, has real users, real demand, and real applications. The logic is that when the market bubble bursts, only projects with actual user bases will survive.

The commentator says this makes Pi one of the most undervalued and misunderstood projects in the industry. However, this argument ignores a key issue: the difference between user quantity and user quality. Of Pi Network’s claimed 50 million users, how many are active on-chain users? How many are dormant users who just downloaded the app and click the mining button daily? If most users have never made an on-chain transaction, the huge user number may just be a vanity metric.

On a deeper level, Pi Network faces a “chicken-or-egg” problem. The team believes you should build up the user base first and then perfect the technology, while the market believes it’s better to perfect the technology first and then attract users. The current predicament is that users have accumulated, but technology has not kept up, leading to user attrition and declining confidence. If Protocol 23 cannot go live as scheduled, this “sleeping giant” may never awaken.

A Crossroads of Pressure and Opportunity

Currently, Pi Network faces both challenges and opportunities. Weak price action and slow development continue to weigh on market sentiment, but growing partnerships and strong user activity still give supporters hope that the “sleeping giant” will eventually awaken. From an investment perspective, Pi Network is a high-risk, high-reward asset. If Protocol 23 is successfully launched and PiDEX and other ecosystem applications begin to function, the price could see an explosive rebound. But if development continues to be delayed or technical execution falls short, prices could fall further.

The road ahead is long, and Pi Network needs to rebuild market confidence with concrete actions rather than words. Transparent development progress reports, a clear launch timeline, and the achievement of technical milestones are the most urgent needs right now. Otherwise, this “sleeping giant” may be forgotten by the market before it ever wakes up.