Pi Network Continues to Cause Controversy with Stalled KYC Process

Pi Network – a project that was once expected to create a new wave in the cryptocurrency industry – has once again fallen into the “eye of the storm” of controversy as the identification verification process (KYC) remains stalled, leaving tens of millions of users stuck in a pending state. Tens of Millions of Users Stuck in KYC According to a share from a Pioneer on X ( previously known as Twitter), Pi Network currently has about 60 million active users. However, only 16 million users have successfully created wallets. This means that 44 million accounts are still in a “tentative” state - not yet verified and unable to transition to the mainnet. Although the KYC system has recently improved, such as eliminating the 30-day waiting period for new users, this change does not address the huge backlog of applications. This has left the community increasingly frustrated, while raising doubts about the transparency and long-term credibility of the project. Notably, the 3-year lock-up period for the mined Pi only begins after the migration process is completed, leaving tens of millions of people still unable to truly access the coins they have accumulated over the years. Efforts to Overcome but Not Enough KYC and migration-related issues are not new. In several previous reports, some users even stated that they lost coins after encountering problems during the verification process. In response to criticisms, the Pi Network development team continues to release technical updates to improve the system. On August 27, the project launched the Pi Node version on Linux while announcing an upgrade of the protocol from v19 to v23. A notable point in this upgrade is the ability to scale KYC. According to the plan, Pi Network will integrate KYC directly into the blockchain, while allowing reputable third parties to become verification agencies in the future. If successfully implemented, this could transform the KYC process into a distributed, transparent system capable of addressing the current backlog. Pi Coin Still Under Pressure Despite positive technical movements, the price of Pi Coin still shows instability. According to data from BeInCrypto Markets, this mobile-mined coin has dropped to its lowest historical level (ATL) of 0.33 USD on August 26. After the announcement of the protocol upgrade, the price saw a slight recovery but only for a short time. At the time of writing, Pi Coin is trading around 0.34 USD, up less than 1% in the past 24 hours – a rather modest figure in the context of the community's high expectations. Conclusion The Pi Network is still in the process of improvement, but the fact that tens of millions of users are stuck in KYC has significantly shaken trust in the project. If the development team does not quickly resolve the identification verification issue and clarify the roadmap, the risk of losing community trust will only grow – and at that point, the actual value of Pi Coin will be hard to break through.