Pi Network slides 12% to $0.0730 as v25 upgrade fails to spark rally — Pi Network's Stellar Protocol v25 upgrade, announced as a catalyst to stabilize the token, has instead failed to halt a 40% drawdown that pushed PI toward a critical support test.
Pi Network fell 12% to $0.0730 on Thursday, extending a three-week selloff that has erased more than 40% of the token's value as the Stellar Protocol v25 mainnet upgrade scheduled for July 22 failed to generate buying momentum.
"The upgrade announcement was expected to act as a sentiment floor, but the market is pricing in token unlock dilution before any real demand from v25 materializes," Jason Wu, on-chain analyst at Edgen, said.
PI traded at $0.0742 as of 14:30 UTC, down 9.8% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. The Relative Strength Index on the 4-hour chart sits near 32, approaching oversold territory, while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence remains below its signal line in negative territory. Open interest across derivatives exchanges has declined 15% over the past week, Coinglass data shows, reflecting reduced speculative appetite.
The $0.0730 support level is the last line of defense before a potential drop to $0.0679, a zone that would confirm a bearish breakdown from the falling channel PI has traced since late June. Bulls need to reclaim $0.0961 to signal a trend reversal, but with token unlocks adding to circulating supply and no new demand catalysts beyond the v25 upgrade, the path of least resistance remains lower.
Token Unlocks Loom as Supply Pressure Mounts
Pi Network faces a scheduled token unlock in the coming weeks, with approximately 150 million PI tokens — representing roughly 2.5% of circulating supply — set to be released, according to data from TokenUnlocks. The event compounds selling pressure on a token already struggling to hold above $0.0730. Unlike many DeFi protocols that generate yield or fee revenue, Pi Network's mainnet remains in an enclosed phase, meaning the token lacks the organic demand drivers — trading volume, liquidity pool incentives, or lending market usage — that typically absorb unlock-related selling.
Can Protocol v25 Change the Narrative?
The v25 upgrade, built on Stellar's blockchain infrastructure, focuses on network stability and privacy-preserving smart contracts. It moves Pi closer to Stellar Protocol v26, which would introduce full smart contract functionality on the mainnet. But the upgrade does not immediately unlock new use cases or capital inflows. "v25 is infrastructure, not demand," Wu said. "Until Pi's mainnet opens to external DeFi composability, the token trades on narrative alone — and that narrative is losing to supply concerns."
The 40% drawdown from late June highs has shaken confidence in Pi Network's roadmap timeline. The project, which has amassed a large mobile mining user base but has yet to launch an open mainnet, faces growing skepticism about whether its transition to a fully functional blockchain will arrive before token dilution overwhelms price support. If $0.0730 breaks, the next floor at $0.0679 could come into play within days.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
