The price trajectory of Pi Network's native token, PI, is under intense scrutiny as the market enters 2026. While the broader cryptocurrency market has seen gains, PI has charted only a minor uptick, trading around $0.21. To gauge short-term potential, four prominent AI chatbots were consulted on the likelihood of PI reaching $1 in the first quarter of 2026, with their answers revealing a stark divide in sentiment.
ChatGPT and Grok expressed significant pessimism, citing the need for a roughly 5x price increase in a very short timeframe. ChatGPT placed the odds at just 10-15%, pointing to weak liquidity and a lack of decisive catalysts. Grok echoed this, highlighting limited real-world utility, low trading volume, and upcoming token unlocks as major obstacles. Data indicates over 1.2 billion PI tokens are scheduled for release in 2026, with approximately 131.7 million unlocking in the next 30 days alone, which could increase selling pressure.
In contrast, Perplexity and Google's Gemini offered a more optimistic outlook, albeit with conditions. Both suggested that a listing on a major exchange like Binance, coupled with a significant ecosystem update, could propel PI to $1. However, Gemini noted such a development is more probable later in the year rather than in Q1.
This debate unfolds against the backdrop of Pi Network's recent Protocol v23 upgrade, launched in Q4 2025. The upgrade aims to improve transaction speed, security, and scalability by integrating Stellar Core v23.0.1. A key feature is the introduction of operational Rust-based smart contracts, enabling developers to deploy decentralized applications (dApps) directly on the network. The development team has confirmed plans to launch a decentralized exchange (DEX) in Q1 or Q2 2026.
Despite the technical progress, the network faces challenges. Social dominance metrics have declined, though trading volume recently spiked to nearly 18 million PI tokens. The price currently struggles to break the 50-day exponential moving average resistance near $0.2174. Furthermore, the Pi Core Team's vague price projections in its 2025 annual recap have drawn criticism from some community members, who expressed frustration over issues like KYC delays.
The immediate test will be the network's economic resilience in the face of a 134 million PI token unlock in January, a significant increase from December's 8.7 million unlock. While some community members view this as a stress test for the ecosystem's fundamentals, others remain concerned about liquidity and potential selling pressure.
