Pi Network's Mainnet Launch: A Mixed Bag of Gains and Losses

The Pi Network, a popular cryptocurrency, launched its mainnet on Thursday, marking a significant milestone in its development. The mainnet launch allowed pioneers to cash out and true believers to hold the token, with many mainstream exchanges deciding to list it on the first day. However, the Pi coin price initially jumped and then erased all those gains, trading at $0.7290 on Friday morning, much lower than Thursday’s high of $2.

The Pi Network has become one of the biggest cryptocurrencies in the industry, with a market cap of over $4.2 billion and a fully diluted valuation of $66 billion. This would make it the sixth-biggest player in the sector. However, the Pi coin price crashed after the mainnet launch due to several reasons. Firstly, many pioneers decided to sell their holdings as soon as possible, as they had been disappointed with the project's mainnet launch delays. Secondly, the price crashed due to the historical trend of popular "to earn" tokens crashing over time. Lastly, the ongoing crypto bear market contributed to the price decline.

Looking ahead to 2025 and 2030, there are two prominent schools of thought about the Pi Network price. One camp argues that Pi Network is the next Bitcoin and predicts that the Pi price will eventually surge from the current $0.6693 to over $100,000 over time. The other camp argues that the Pi Network price will crash over time now that the incentive to mine it has ended. I believe that the Pi Network outlook for between 2025 and 2030 is bearish, given the past performance of other "to earn" tokens. The Pi team argues that ecosystem growth will help to offset this, but the risk is that this much-touted ecosystem growth will not happen after all.