Pi Network: My impression of cryptocurrency for ordinary people

I've been watching this "people's" cryptocurrency Pi for a while now, and I'll be honest - I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, the idea seems appealing: mining directly from your phone, without special equipment. I'll never forget how I missed the Bitcoin boom in 2009, thinking "who needs this digital nonsense". Now Pi seems to give an almost second chance to ordinary mortals, but I'm still on guard.

The project was founded by some smart guys from Stanford - Nikolaos Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan. On paper, it sounds solid, but I’m always wary of these "geniuses from elite universities". They came up with a protocol that doesn’t consume electricity like Bit, but works on some Stellar Consensus. In theory, it’s cool, but in practice... who knows?

How it works for an ordinary person

I tried this app myself. You open it once a day, press a button, and supposedly mine coins. Too simple to be true? Maybe. In the community, there are different roles: Pioneers (ordinary users like me), Participants (those who create "trust circles"), Ambassadors (invited a bunch of people), and Node Operators (like advanced techies).

The biggest plus is that you don't need to spend money on expensive graphics cards for mining. The downside is that for a long time it was unclear whether these coins are worth anything in the real world.

Tokenomics and Distribution

They promised a mountain here - 100 billion tokens, with 80% supposedly going to the community, while the founders "modestly" keep only 20% for themselves. The majority of (65 billion) is intended for mining rewards. But how much people will actually receive after all their "KYC checks" is a big question.

Pi is currently trading around $0.27-0.36, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.2 billion. For a coin that has not been taken seriously for so many years, this is not bad. But I have seen many projects that soared and fell in just a few weeks.

My Doubts

Personally, I am confused by their long journey to the "open mainnet". They have been dragging this out for years! Who needs a cryptocurrency that cannot be freely used? I have watched many acquaintances mine these virtual coins for years, but they couldn't really withdraw or use them.

Of course, this is not a classic pyramid - you don't pay anything. But time and attention are also a resource. And it's not a fact that it will pay off.

Is it worth entering now?

If you want to give it a try - why not? The risk is minimal ( you will only spend time ). But I wouldn't get my hopes up too much. Now that the coin can be traded on several platforms, the situation has become clearer, but the volatility is insane.

The most important rule of cryptocurrency has not been canceled: do not invest more than you are willing to lose. And considering the unstable nature of Pi, I would think twice before buying these coins at the current rate.

Personally, I hold a small amount of Pi that was mined over a couple of years, but I don't seriously count on them. If it rises - great, if not - no regrets.