Pi Network constantly upgrades its protocol, but what has changed? Throughout the year 2026, Pi Network (Pi Network) has been introducing protocol updates to the Mainnet on a compulsory basis. The cycle is quite real. But $PI's price doesn't seem to reflect that. For context, the coin remains 97%... below its all-time high mark in February 2025 at $2.99. Over the last twelve months, its price fell 66%, while over the last month, it fell 8%. While the upgrades did not affect the price, what do they bring: (1) Upgrades are node deadline first, followed by chain switch. The operator must upgrade before the deadline; otherwise, they risk disconnection from the network. The on-chain upgrade happens later, after sufficient nodes are prepared. This time difference is usually three days. However, in Protocol 25, it became 34 days, while in Protocol 27, it was seven days. Pioneers do nothing here. (2) Early 2026 was an alignment period. Versions 19.6, 19.9, and 20.2 happened between February 15 and March 13. Protocol 20 served as the base for the smart contracts but not the smart contract itself. The switch to Protocol 21 happened on April 29. Protocol 22, which happened on April 30, made the PiRC1 framework functional. 3) Protocol 23 activated Soroban. This was the functional break: Pi’s Stellar-based chain could support smart contracts. This protocol did not form the application economy. 4) Protocol 24 and 25 separated maintenance from cryptography. Protocol 24, on June 5, focused on migration and node stabilization. Protocol 25, on July 22, implemented BN254 cryptography and Poseidon hashing, components of zero-knowledge solutions, but not yet a functional privacy solution. (5) Protocols 26 and 27 strengthened the contract layer. Protocol 26, roughly around August 14, improved contract security, state management, and interoperability. Protocol 27 hit Mainnet roughly on September 22 and finalized on September 25. It improved smart contract authentication and laid the foundation for pool-like systems for exchanges and RPC access. (6) Protocol 28 is less broad than suggested by its version number. The Testnet was updated on September 25. The Mainnet will be upgraded on October 16. The updates include delaying transaction data, smart contract upgrades, and safer edits to stored application data. Despite these upgrades, token unlock has remained the same, and there has been no sign of substantial on-chain demand. This begs the question: are these upgrades worthwhile?show more

@PiCoreTeam The only purpose of the upgrades is to have something to celebrate every some weeks or month. Where does it end? Maybe never. We can have Protocol 29-32 before December and then maybe up to Protocol 50 by 2027! In the meantime, admin racks up advert revenues by the million $.

@PiCoreTeam Nobody knows what is happening with Pi except @PiCoreTeam

@PiCoreTeam You are a news outlet, heavily supported by pioneers in pi network. Surely you understand what the upgrades bring to the developers and ecosystem?

@PiCoreTeam No purpose of usage, didn't have clear roadmaps, that's why price keep decrease.

@PiCoreTeam Nevertheless, I still choose to believe in Pi Network; it will not let us down.

@PiCoreTeam Nicolas has no idea He is just lucky to have alot of miners far back as 2019..imagine pi is planning to have a swap !! And a launch pad ?? At first is that the plan

@PiCoreTeam

@PiCoreTeam 协议升级一项接一项，技术上确实在推进，但从价格表现来看，市场似乎并不买账。解锁节奏没变、链上真实需求也没明显起来，这些升级到底是在夯实基础，还是更多只是周期性的“进度展示”？值得再观察一下。

@PiCoreTeam هم يتحكمون في السعر لتجربه النظام البيئي بتلك العملات

@PiCoreTeam I think 💭 you know the answer The various upgrades are not worthwhile @PiCoreTeam

@PiCoreTeam Wait for April 2027

@PiCoreTeam Kapitalisasi 13 milyar koin telah keluar saja di harga $0.00,, dan menunggu sampai selesai 100milyar maka nol makin panjang dibelakang koma.tidak sebagaimana btc kapitalisasi pasar mendukung liquid meningkat setiap waktu dari awal hingga kini.

@PiCoreTeam This begs the question: are these upgrades worthwhile? Ans: No! Most pioneers are not interested in exchanging their goods and services for Pi. Most pioneers are not interested using Pi.

@PiCoreTeam hard to get excited about upgrades with no real demand yet

@PiCoreTeam #pi 你提出“这些升级值得吗”这种问题，就注定你永远只可能是看客，而不可能成为实干家

@PiCoreTeam Yeah there just mining your personal data and using Google back doors to steal your credentials.

@PiCoreTeam

@PiCoreTeam It's a scam always update but nothing happen

@PiCoreTeam Let's wait for the finalisation

@PiCoreTeam 太不值得了，没有任何意义，您觉得呢？

@PiCoreTeam 升级到280都不会有好的改变！是社区成就了这个项目，但现在社区已对项目不抱任何希望！水能载舟亦能覆舟！

@PiCoreTeam 确实值得深思，pi友已失去信心，无休止的升级，没有实质进展

@PiCoreTeam My Pi is still trap

@PiCoreTeam Indeed, after the good update, the price of Pi has dropped.

@PiCoreTeam Say less and watch . . When the move comes You will wonder how it happened

@PiCoreTeam 对投资者太坑了！

@PiCoreTeam 借着升级协议这两口子，这团队想让币价拉升，好出货，但是大户不买账， 那个大户机构煞笔现在去扫货，也就国内一些煞笔散户还在买，发财梦还没醒， 有点脑子的人现在是不会买pi

@PiCoreTeam Good information.

@PiCoreTeam 🙂‍↔️

@PiCoreTeam Tujuan hanya buat khayalan agar para pioner tetap bertahan..dan kekayaan si Nicolas pun makin bertambah..sampai THN 2050 ..maka upgrate terus yg dilakukan dan tidak terjadi apa2

@PiCoreTeam pi要走的路还很长，首先要完善数字经济要素的合规认证，这是必须要经历的考验，美国，中国等一众大国也许都在积极推动……