Pi Coin endures 15% 24-hour dip as mainnet upgrade momentum fades

Pi Network’s native token extended last weekend’s volatile stretch on Monday, albeit not in the direction that investors had expected. After a brief rally that took the token on a 25% run, Pi coin fell about 15% over 24 hours, before reversing some of the losses to minimize the drop. 

Over the weekend, the Pi token touched $0.1985, its highest price since January 20, when it struggled to maintain its upward momentum amid the market-wide correction. Pi was among the weakest performers during that period, repeatedly setting new lows, including a decline to $0.1312 on February 11.

Pi coin Sunday rally comes to a halt, profits shedding continues

Looking at the intraday price chart, the Pi Coin Sunday rally occurred amid a mandatory Mainnet node upgrade deadline. After the upgrade window passed, an en masse selling session saw holders lock in profits they had gained from “buying the news.” 

Sunday trading had seen Pi jump more than 30% in a single day and over 55% from its recent all-time low, creating conditions for a pullback once the catalyst faded.

PiScan wallet activity for centralized exchanges shows investors are dropping more coins into exchanges, which could mean the selling pressure has not yet settled. An uptick in exchange balances signals short-term selling pressure, as tokens moved onto trading platforms are readily available for liquidation. 

Seychelles-based trading platform OKX recorded the highest inflows of about 4.33 million PI, against outflows of 1.48 million PI, for a positive netflow of 2.84 million PI. Bitget had the opposite pattern, logging 861,134 PI token entries and 2.37 million PI withdrawals, resulting in a net outflow of 1.51 million PI. 

MEXC posted modest net inflows of around 442,961 PI, while Gate.io registered a stronger positive balance change exceeding 1.09 million PI. 

All CEXs tracked by PiScan recorded total inflows of approximately 7.86 million PI, compared with 4.97 million PI in outflows. The aggregate net flow stood near 2.89 million PI entering exchanges.

Pi Network starts node upgrade timeline

This update is a part of a planned roadmap that aims to increase the number of validators and enhance the distributed ledger technology on which the Pi ecosystem is embedded.

The Pi Core development team explained that nodes are integral in validating transactions in the blockchain. Their function is to ensure all participants reach consensus on transaction order while preserving the integrity of the ledger.

Pi uses a consensus mechanism derived from the Stellar Consensus Protocol, in which nodes form trusted clusters known as quorum slices and approve transactions only when those trusted peers agree.

Network operators are required to wait for confirmation of system-wide completion at each stage before proceeding, to reduce any chances of fragmentation during the rollout.

According to Pi Coin community member amrOnChain, the February 15 upgrade deadline covered version 19.6. Upcoming deadlines include February 27 and March 12, while other upgrades will be revealed after the earlier phases are finalized. The development team has advised participants not to attempt installing any future updates before an official announcement.

Pi token holders will be hoping that the $0.15-$0.16 technical support range holds, as the token risks dropping further to $0.12 if selling pressure persists. Some market watchers predict the token to fluctuate between $0.16 and $0.20 after the market digests the 24-hour downward-bound volatility. 

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