Can New Utility Push Token Higher?

Pi Network is building more technology than ever, but the market remains unconvinced. PI▲$0.1182 crypto is trading around $0.09 after repeatedly failing to hold above $0.10, leaving the token roughly 97% below its February 2025 all-time high of $2.99.

That looks particularly striking because Pi Network is no longer merely a mobile-mining niche product. Its Open Network has been live since February 2025, and Pi Nodes are experimenting with AI and distributed-computing use cases.

The question is whether any of that utility can create enough demand to overcome PI crypto’s expanding supply.

What Is PI Crypto Worth Today?

PI currently trades around $0.089-$0.090, with a market capitalization just below $1 billion and approximately $4.7 million in daily trading volume.

CoinGecko reports roughly 11.09 billion PI in circulating supply and approximately 17.06 billion tokens already created, against a theoretical maximum supply of 100 billion.

The price chart remains ugly.

PI reached an all-time high of $2.99 on February 26, 2025, shortly after Open Network launched. By July 14, 2026, it had fallen to a record low of approximately $0.0706.

The token has recovered roughly 27% from that bottom, but $0.10 has repeatedly become resistance. PI briefly moved above it during August before falling back below the level.

That leaves PI crypto in an unusual position: the underlying ecosystem is expanding while the token remains close to historic lows.

Why Is PI Crypto Stuck Below $0.10?

The biggest problem may be supply.

Pi Network was designed very differently from Bitcoin. Its maximum supply is 100 billion PI, with 80% allocated to the community and 20% ultimately allocated to the Core Team under the Mainnet token model.

Only a fraction of that supply is currently circulating.

Pi was originally mined inside the mobile application, but those balances do not all become transferable simultaneously. Users must complete KYC and migrate eligible balances to Mainnet, while some PI remains subject to voluntary lockups.

As migrations continue and lockups expire, more tokens can become liquid.

CoinGecko currently estimates circulating supply at about 11.09 billion PI. Earlier in 2026, the circulating figure was below 10 billion. That means new demand has to absorb a growing amount of tradable supply merely to keep the price stable.

This does not mean every migrated PI is immediately sold. Many Pioneers lock their balances or continue holding them. But it creates structural pressure that PI crypto did not face while balances remained trapped inside the enclosed ecosystem.

Pi Network Is Trying to Turn Users Into an Economy

The bullish argument starts with scale.

Pi Network’s ecosystem includes more than 17.7 million KYC-verified Pioneers, with more than 16.5 million already migrated to Mainnet by early March.. Its current partner information says more than 70 Pi apps use the token for payments and transactions.

That gives Pi something many smaller Layer 1 projects spend years trying to create: a large existing user base.

The challenge is converting those users into actual economic activity.

Mobile mining itself does not create sustainable token demand. People need reasons to spend, receive, lock, or otherwise use PI after mining it.

Pi Network increasingly appears to recognize this distinction. Much of its 2026 development has shifted toward apps, payments, identity, AI, distributed computing, and eventually ecosystem tokens.

If those products become useful outside the existing Pioneer community, PI crypto could begin acquiring demand that is unrelated to speculative trading.

Another important development came from outside the Pi ecosystem. PayPal now lists PI among the cryptocurrencies supported by its Pay with Crypto service.

That service allows global buyers to pay eligible U.S. merchants in crypto while PayPal automatically handles conversion and settlement.

This does not guarantee substantial PI transaction volume, but it gives the token a new potential payment channel beyond Pi-native applications.

Can Pi App Studio Create Real PI Demand?

Pi App Studio may be the most direct attempt yet.

The platform allows people to create applications with AI-assisted tools without needing traditional programming skills. More importantly, Pi added Mainnet payment support in March.

Qualifying applications can now accept real PI directly onchain. Persistent payment functionality also allows purchases and upgrades to remain active across sessions.

That opens the door to applications selling subscriptions, premium features, digital products, services, and other functionality for PI.

Pi Network has since changed App Studio pricing to favor applications that demonstrate genuine user activity. Instead of heavily subsidizing every creator indefinitely, the network now reserves its cheapest pricing for apps attracting real users.

That is a sensible shift.

Creating thousands of unused applications would do little for PI crypto. A much smaller number of apps generating recurring transactions could matter considerably more.

The key metric is therefore not how many apps Pioneers create. It is how much actual economic activity those apps produce.

Pi Network Is Expanding Beyond Payments

Pi’s latest utility push also goes beyond conventional dApps.

Pi2Day 2026 introduced SoloHost, an open framework that allows applications to run through Pi Desktop. The first use cases include local AI agents, while Pi Network is also experimenting with distributed computing.

In August, five volunteer Pi Node operators successfully completed an early distributed-computing test. Their machines received, processed, and returned computational tasks through SoloHost.

Pi Sign-in provides another potentialPioneers to log in using their Pi identities, giving external developers access to a large KYC-verified user network

Neither feature automatically increases PI demand.

A million users signing into websites with their Pi identities is useful for the network but does not necessarily require them to buy tokens. Distributed computing becomes more relevant to PI crypto if PI eventually serves as payment or compensation for actual computational work.

That distinction—between network utility and token utility—is crucial.

Could Protocol 27 and DeFi Change the Equation?

Pi Network is also upgrading the blockchain itself.

The project has completed its Protocol 26 Mainnet upgrade and is now testing Protocol 27. Pi currently targets September 15 for the Protocol 27 Mainnet upgrade.

The upgrade introduces more flexible smart-contract authentication capabilities and forms part of Pi’s broader effort to support increasingly sophisticated applications.

The network has already experimented with a DEX, automated market maker liquidity pools, token creation, and Pi Launchpad.

However, there is an important limitation: these features remain primarily on Testnet, not as mature Mainnet DeFi products using real PI.

Pi Launchpad has nevertheless generated considerable test activity. Its first experimental token attracted more than 478,000 participants staking 36 million Test-Pi. A second test launch involved more than 242,000 participants.

If token creation, liquidity pools, Launchpad projects, and DEX trading eventually reach Mainnet, they could create anothers the central asset within that ecosystem

For now, that remains future potential rather than existing Mainnet demand.

Exchange Access Is Still an Issue

PI has far more exchange access than it did after Open Network launched.

The token trades on platforms including OKX, Gate, MEXC, Bitget, and Kraken. Kraken added spot PI trading in March 2026, while OKX’s U.S. platform added PI spot trading in May 2026

But two enormous gaps remain: Binance and Coinbase still do not offer PI spot trading.

That matters because broader exchange access normally improves liquidity, price discovery, and the ability of new investors to enter a market.

A Binance community vote produced overwhelming support for a PI listing in 2025, but Binance never followed it with an actual listing. Coinbase has likewise made no commitment.

A future major listing could become a powerful short-term catalyst for PI crypto, but there is currently no confirmed Binance or Coinbase listing date.

Rumors alone should not be treated as evidence.

What Would Push PI Crypto Above $0.10?

Breaking $0.10 itself is not particularly difficult. PI has already traded above that level recently.

Holding it is the harder test.

Three developments would strengthen the case.

First, utility needs to translate into actual PI transactions. App Studio payments, commerce, ecosystem apps, AI services, or distributed computing would become much more meaningful if they generate measurable recurring demand for the token.

Second, demand needs to keep pace with circulating supply. Continued Mainnet migrations expand participation, but they can also make additional PI available for transfer or sale. Utility growth has to absorb that supply.

Third, liquidity needs to deepen. Major exchange listings could help, but organic activity on Pi’s own ecosystem would arguably matter more over the long term.

The current numbers show the challenge clearly.

At around $0.09, PI crypto has a market capitalization close to $1 billion. A return merely to $0.20 would require the market to support more than twice the current valuation, assuming similar circulating supply. Returning anywhere close to the $2.99 all-time high would require a much more dramatic transformation.

Can Pi Network’s New Utility Push PI Crypto Higher?

Yes—but building utility and creating token demand are not the same thing.

Pi Network has made genuine progress in 2026. Mainnet payments are reaching App Studio applications. The ecosystem has dozens of apps using PI. SoloHost is experimenting with AI and distributed computing. Pi Sign-in extends the network’s identity layer beyond its own browser. Protocol upgrades are creating infrastructure for more sophisticated smart contracts, and the Launchpad and DEX experiments could eventually create an internal token economy.

Those developments give PI crypto more fundamental support than a token driven solely by community enthusiasm.

But price performance shows that the market wants evidence.

The token is still below $0.10, daily trading volume remains modest relative to its roughly $1 billion market capitalization, and more PI can enter circulation as Mainnet migration continues.

The next phase therefore depends less on how many new features Pi Network announces than on whether people actually use them.

If developers build applications that generate recurring payments, merchants accept PI because customers genuinely spend it, and new services require the token rather than merely carrying Pi branding, utility could begin absorbing supply.

If usage remains concentrated among existing Pioneers moving PI around the ecosystem, the price may continue struggling despite impressive headline user numbers.

For PI crypto, the technology is increasingly there. Now the economy has to show up.

PI crypto currently trades around $0.09, with a market capitalization close to $1 billion and approximately 11.09 billion PI in circulating supply.

Why is PI crypto below $0.10?

Weak demand relative to expanding circulating supply is one likely factor. PI also remains approximately 97% below its February 2025 all-time high despite continued ecosystem development.

What new utility does Pi Network have?

Pi Network has introduced Mainnet payments in qualifying App Studio applications, Pi Sign-in for external services, SoloHost for AI and distributed-computing applications, and continued work on smart contracts, Launchpad, DEX, and AMM functionality.

Is Pi Network’s DEX live on Mainnet?

Not yet. Pi’s DEX, AMM liquidity pools, token creation, and Launchpad functionality have primarily been deployed on Testnet while the network tests and refines them before Mainnet implementation.

Can PI crypto return to its all-time high?

PI would need an enormous increase in demand to return to its $2.99 peak. Growing real-world utility, deeper liquidity, broader exchange access, and demand strong enough to absorb increasing circulating supply would all improve the case.

Current market figures were checked against CoinGecko’s August 27 data, while the utility and ecosystem developments come from Pi Network’s 2026 releases. (coingecko.com)

Source: bitcoinfoundation.org