Pi Network co-founder Chengdiao Fan used her keynote at Consensus 2026 in Miami to chart a new course for the project, emphasizing real utility over speculation. Fan argued that the crypto industry still suffers from “too much value extraction without equivalent value creation,” pointing to the prevalence of tokens used for fundraising without delivering actual products. “People have too easy and immediate access to capital without actually doing the hard work to finish the building,” she said.
At the center of the presentation was Pi Launchpad, a novel ecosystem model designed to eliminate quick exits. Unlike traditional launchpads, funds committed by users will be permanently deposited into liquidity pools instead of going directly to project teams. Fan stressed that projects must have a working app or product before launching tokens on Pi’s Layer-1 blockchain, with engaged users potentially receiving favorable access during token generation events. “Not only does this address the root problem of the quick exit problem, but it also helps provide a healthy and stable start for the token,” Fan explained.
Fan highlighted Pi’s scale as a key advantage: over 60 million engaged users, more than 18 million KYC-verified users, and roughly 16.5 million active wallets on mainnet. She also revealed that over 526 million human verification tasks have been completed by more than one million users, positioning Pi’s KYC network as a potential resource for AI-in-the-loop processes. The speech comes just days before the May 15 network upgrade, which could introduce smart contract functionality and has already sparked a 20% jump in trading volume.
However, the Pi token faces mounting technical headwinds. PI traded near $0.173 on Monday, struggling to hold gains after a sharp fall from March highs around $0.30. A bearish MACD divergence and a newly triggered Supertrend sell signal suggest momentum is fading. Contributing to the negative outlook, over 174 million previously locked PI tokens are expected to enter circulation by month-end as more users complete migration, raising fears of profit-taking and additional selling pressure. Unless bulls reclaim the $0.195 resistance that aligns with the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement, a retest of the $0.163 support and a possible drop to the psychological $0.15 level remain on the table.
