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We follow ethical norms & our process for objectivity.

This research is not funded by any sponsors.

How does Pi Network work?

Could Pi Networks’ currency be valuable in the future?

Could Pi Network make you rich?

Are there free apps that pay users?

So what should you do?

What does the Pi Network team say about this?

How you can contribute to this discussion?

Why did AIMultiple write about this?

Sources

How does Pi Network work?Could Pi Networks’ currency be valuable in the future?Could Pi Network make you rich?Are there free apps that pay users?So what should you do?What does the Pi Network team say about this?How you can contribute to this discussion?Why did AIMultiple write about this?Sources

Table of contents

How does Pi Network work?Could Pi Networks’ currency be valuable in the future?Could Pi Network make you rich?Are there free apps that pay users?So what should you do?What does the Pi Network team say about this?How you can contribute to this discussion?Why did AIMultiple write about this?Sources

Updated on Jun 25, 2025

Will Pi Network make you rich? No, but it can pay cents per hour

See our ethical norms

This is an investment related topic so please read our disclaimer regarding investment.

We don’t expect anyone except the founders to benefit from PI Network in a significant way because:

We find it unlikely for the app to create significant value beyond a limited side income:
- Pi Network opened up on 20/February and got listed in about ten cryptoexchanges after that.¹ However, we expect the token’s value not to appreciate significantly. Large advertisers are unlikely to show ads in a network where users login to make money by seeing ads. Such models have been tried many times without significant success.
- The app creates limited value. Users create no value except for providing their information to the mobile app, viewing ads or messaging other users. The value of these activities is unlikely to generate significant wealth for the large user base.
- However, if you
  - Want to earn limited side income, you can use Pi Network or one of its alternatives.
  - Recruited a large number of pioneers and if you managed to keep them active, Pi Network can generate more substantial value.
Users are currently putting value in the app with limited benefits other than the tokens:
- The app does not provide any utility to its users beyond functionality like in-app messaging. Most users hold on to it with the hope that their coins will appreciate in value.
- The app works like a direct selling or affiliate marketing system, promising future rewards to users for bringing in new users. Some users put in additional time and effort to attract new users, such as numerous users adding their codes as comments to this article. We find it similar to multi level marketing since it includes direct selling and provides increased potential benefits to early users (i.e. earlier users mine at an increased rate), however affiliate or direct selling are possibly better analogies.
- Users are putting value into the app. There are hundreds of posts online saying PI Network can not be a scam because users do not put any money it. Users’ time and data are valuable to those users and they are spending these on the app.
Some of its current practices are also used in scams:
- Founders are benefitting from the app regardless of the token’s value. They launched optional video ads at launch to monetize the active user base. The app also has a KYC process of collecting passport information. Having a verified audience through a KYC process would increase advertising revenues.
- Their marketing emphasizes the academic credentials of their founders. Very similarly, a blockchain scam without blockchain infrastructure, OneCoin, relied on the McKinsey experience of its founder in its marketing.

How does Pi Network work?

It is an app where users

login every day and click a button to get digital currency. They just login and click a button.
They earn tokens for this activity.
level up by inviting more users to the platform. This makes them gain more digital currency per day. This is a common model in pyramid Schemes and multi level marketing.

Could Pi Networks’ currency be valuable in the future?

Of course. We have done an evidence based analysis here and there are also evidence that show that Pi Network is at least attempting to build something of value:

Vision

They have published a high level whitepaper outlining their ambitions without providing technical details on how their Pi Stack would work. One of their aims is to have others build apps on PI network to benefit from PI network users’ attention.

This reminded us of the pay-to-surf models of the dot com boom where companies installed software on user devices and acted as middleman between users and advertisers without generating substantial benefit to either party. None of these pay-to-surf models generated significant value for their users.

Product

They have built a production version of their blockchain (i.e. mainnet). Mainnet opened up to outside (i.e. enclosed network) as of February 20. Users are now able to exchange their Pi coins with fiat currency on exchanges.

Users claim that the project has shared some of its code on github.

Community

They are working towards building a developer community to build apps on their platform which can add value to the platform. They have run a hackathon and released a Software Development Kit (SDK) for 3rd party applications to initiate Pi coin transactions. The hackathon winners include apps like an e-commerce store and a marketplace to match freelancers to tasks.

These apps would start to generate now that the mainnet is opened up. The price of Pi and the metrics of these apps are now relevant metrics regarding the success of the project.

Traction

The app has had significant growth. It has ~850k reviews and a 4.4 rating on Google Play Store.² Models similar to MLM tend to generate fast growth.

~400 LinkedIn users have chosen Pi Network as an employer.³ However, most of these people are app users with titles like “Cryptocurrency Trader”.

Team

Its founders were educated at and worked at Stanford. Though this is certainly a good thing, people rarely notice that Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, the writer of this article and numerous business founders were educated at reputable universities (e.g. Ivy League universities for these examples).

This is because their companies rarely use these facts. Based on our observations, business success is far more important and a better predictor of successful enterprises than academic credentials. And successful companies tend to speak about their business success rather than their founders’ academic credentials.

Could Pi Network make you rich?

Unlikely. Until recently, they have been delaying the launch of the blockchain and allow tradability on exchanges.

They were possibly waiting for the user base to reach enough scale so they can generate value for advertisers. However, we are sceptical that large advertisers will show ads in a network where users login to make money by seeing ads. The concept isn’t new. Such websites existed since the early days of internet. Crypto projects like electroneum were also similar. However, none of them reached mass adoption. This is because it is more valuable for advertisers to advertise in websites which are used since they provide some value to users (e.g. information, connecting with friends etc.).

Some commenters like Jennifer Vanessa Kaiser shared that the founding team may be concerned that once the coin is published on an exchange, there would be a selling frenzy. Then, the coin would not be valuable enough for people to keep on logging in to click. Dreams are better motivators than actual value:

However, so far, the coin’s value held up. Therefore, your coins can be worth some value but don’t get your hopes up. Other experiments like ETN only made their users a few euros per month before stopping to give free credits.

Are there free apps that pay users?

Yes:

Brave browser replaces ads on websites with its own ads and shares the value with its users.
Mode mobile app users can take actions like playing games or watching videos to earn.

There are also other free-to-use apps which provide virtual currency. However, we did not come across any of them that currently provide a tradable coin for free:

Bee Network

It is a clone of the Pi Network concept with even less transparency. Just skip it unless you like providing data to anonymous people.

Electroneum ETN

Pi network as a concept is a clone of ETN without a tradable coin. However, ETN launched its coin on exchanges and has been tradable since 2017. It no longer provides free coins and its coin trades at a fraction of its ICO price.

Electroneum demonstrated that those that receive coins can sell them quickly once the coins become sellable.

So what should you do?

I wouldn’t bother installing the app. You can always make the argument that you only lose time by giving the app a try. However, this belief would lead the believer to follow any dishonest actor who promises future value. There is no scarcity of empty promises in the world, we try to spend our time more carefully.

However, if you already have the app, you can wait to see if the founders actually build something of significant value.

Finally, if you came across this because you are looking for ways to become wealthy without putting significant effort, we recommend you to look for other ways. As Buddha said, “Our mere existence is suffering” and as Karl Marx is claimed to have said “Life is struggle”. We don’t see shortcuts but consistent effort by flexible and open minds tend to pay off. Instead of such schemes, you could look into learning new skills which tend to pay off better.

We do not cover many such topics but feel free to follow our Linkedin page where we share how AI is impacting businesses and individuals or our twitter account

What does the Pi Network team say about this?

Nothing until now. We asked for comments via their contact us form. The community has been contributing in the comments and they helped make this article more accurate.

How you can contribute to this discussion?

Please leave a comment, we are open to all view points. I am still learning about crypto and this is only an attempt to help people make informed decisions about their time. We publish comments as long as they do not:

contain pi-network codes. If we let that happen, the comments below would be filled with codes that don’t add any value to the discussion. If anyone wants to find codes, they can google them.
repeat already discussed points
use inappropriate or immature language
include major spelling mistakes
ask for us to update the article. We update it at our pace. We have higher priority work that pays the bills and this was an article we wrote because we looked for these answers and couldn’t find them.

We sometimes make exceptions to the last 2 points and make grammatical changes to comments or remove immature language if a comment includes a relevant detail.

Why did AIMultiple write about this?

We don’t normally write about B2C topics but we looked for answers to this question and couldn’t find it. Therefore we decided to answer it.

We will not be writing about any more such topics in the future. AIMultiple’s only focus area is B2B technology.

Chronology

Initially, this post had the title: “Is PI Network a scam providing no value to users? Possibly yes”. Now that mainnet is live, we can eliminate that possibility, Pi delivers value, though that value is likely to be measured in cents per hour unless the user recruited many other users into the system.

Sources

Share This Article

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 55% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE and NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and resources that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised enterprises on their technology decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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60 Comments

Ketan

Feb 27, 2025 at 07:46

Do you still think Pi won’t create any value for its users. Just so you know, it has already created value and I won’t be surprised if in 5-10 years, this becomes bigger in market cap than bitcoin.

Cem Dilmegani

Mar 17, 2025 at 02:58

Hi Ketan, I never said it wouldn’t create any value. I said it wouldn’t create significant value. Once you make a meaningful sum with it, I would be happy to know how it happened when it is trading at around ~$1.5 now.
I believe the only way to generate meaningful value would have been to get others to join via your link. That takes time and effort. I doubt this project was the best place to invest that.

Shafzy

Oct 30, 2024 at 16:45

I’m not agreing with what you said because this is the exactly statement that made me lose out in the year 2009 by not mining BTC. Pi network is the only digital currency that will change entire world, 🌍 if you doubt this, sit back and wait. Time shall tell.

Carl

Sep 09, 2023 at 02:50

When the project began, one of the grand statements they made was that the project was not political in any way. Upon rolling out the KYC process, they list Taiwan as a province of China.
The founders constantly sidestep or even ignore real questions in meetings with the moderator community that moderates their in app chat, and they only answer softball questions.

The only real progress that has been made this far is absolute monetization of community time/attention/usage data, and sensitive KYC data, as well as monetization of their own 3rd party KYC process that is connected to a completely untrusted 3rd party.

The legally binding agreement that every pioneer MUST sign after their KYC has been approved, in order to even receive their pi, that legal document signs away ever single right a person might otherwise have to pursue damages against the company or founders, for any misuse of data that might happen.

This agreement was never mentioned until the very last minute when KYC had rolled out, was off it’s pilot program, and was in the works for the community.

This project is something worse than a scam. I’ve been watching it from the start, and at this point, I’m just sitting here waiting for the truth to be unveiled.

Estevam

Apr 22, 2022 at 15:33

Hello friend. I would like to congratulate you for the article, I believe it is the first “Cohesive” article published with some criticism of the PI network. Let’s get to the points:
– Pi network today doesn’t have a lot of revenue from advertisements, that’s because the cost of the servers are much higher than the revenue generated by the advertisements and the advertisements were a vote of the community itself, the community voted whether or not they would like to activate it for assistance in costs.
– Regarding the profitability of PI NETWORK. basically the PI you are entirely correct, it does not have any value in its blockchain, it has nothing built yet, I have been following the PI since the 2nd phase of the project and I agree with you, this is one more reason why, it is not on an open network, if it were on an open network at the moment, it would indeed be worthy of suspicion. The devs themselves announced that they want a large utility network for users, the idea of the PI network escapes the principle of the reserve of value that many are used to.
I won’t go on too long.
– Finally, when I investigated the PI network and started following it, I checked precisely the question of its founders and their legality in the US. We all know that the US is a rigid country and I found complete freedom for them to operate. Another question is the following to finish the reasoning, I have known cryptocurrencies since 2018 and since that time the main factor that leads a Crypto to be giant is its community, PI NETWORK knows this and is investing in providing knowledge to the community, they are doing the perfect job, so they don’t do what failed cryptocurrencies have done, they learn from the mistakes of others.

Gulbahar Karatas

Sep 21, 2022 at 06:25

thank you for your comment!

Dean

Mar 25, 2022 at 05:03

Thanks for your article, it really helpful to let people understand you need to be rational for analyzing cryptocurrency. This article is insightful as well. Btw, I’m a new user for PI network, and I need to mention that I’m not dreaming to be a millionaire at the future, but I just wanna spend my little to invest whether this will be my second chance at the future, who knows, but of course it can be wasteful and nothing.

Very useful article, good job!

Anonymous

Jan 14, 2022 at 17:02

Thanks for the article Cem
I really enjoyed your writing from several different points of view.

Honestly, what I don’t really understand is that some members of the community are voicing too high a price for a coin that has such a large supply.
Some says 1π for $100, $200, $300, $1000, and etc.

And the most popular on some social media, they are voicing $314 for one Pi coin. Let’s count, it says on Mainnet Info Pi the total claimed supply is 20 Billion which is spread to 30 Million users. Think of the 20 billion as a circulating supply.
So if 1π is $314, it means $314*20,000,000,000 = $6,280,000,000,000 is the market capitalization of Pi.
Wow, that’s completely unrealistic for a coin that has a maximum supply of 100 Billion coins, even this is 7.5x the market capitalization of Bitcoin which is only have $826.230 million.
Who wants to spend that much money and where does it come from?

It is very sad to see people who have very high hopes to become millionaires overnight but ignore a reality, knowledge and information between supply, demand and supply that occurs in the market.

And until now, those who still have high expectations are waiting for clarity on whether this project is still running or will it “FAIL” in the middle of the road later. Can only watch and wait what will happen after that.

Best Regards

Ben

Dec 18, 2021 at 21:56

Today Pi has laid out a roadmap for users to transition to Mainnet. It involves installing a Pi Browser which Pi maintains is ‘essential’. Must admit it feels a bit more like a scam now.

Cathy

Dec 14, 2021 at 10:22

I appreciate that time is money. Mining pi everyday takes literally 10 seconds of my time. It does not affect my phone battery life that much either. We spend more time sleeping. What’s the harm in feeding a little bit of naive hope. We never know, it just might be worth something in a couple years.

DaveBP

Dec 14, 2021 at 05:29

has anyone considered that this is a social experiment?

the Stanford students’ PhD project is actually a sociology research paper… in Social connectivity, mapping of social connections, and social distribution. how will the promise of expected return drive people to pressure friends and loved ones to become involved? how does the app spread? the role of hype? FOMO etc. theres a bunch more things that pi could be researching/studying/providing a platform for,and the Pi network is merely a tool to execute that.

unlikely, i know… but its a great alternate explanation for all this, considering it has no value and is unlikely to have any value.

awesome article BTW.

Cem Dilmegani

Dec 19, 2021 at 16:17

I hadn’t thought about it. But if that was the purpose, it could be a lot cooler than launching a coin for another ad supported B2C business.

Paul Koen

Nov 30, 2021 at 13:44

I feel like your article was “erring on the side of caution” to the point of being pejorative. It (your article) also enjoys a very favorable search ranking in google, and I have no idea (and have exerted no effort in deterring) if you paid for that ranking or it’s because so many people value your opinions and link to you, but I’ll assume the latter..
Yes, I agree that the white paper is vague and leaves something to be desired. I have no explanation for that.
I have myself asked anyone I can find in the user chats and have received no reply to my query to the founders, in whether they intend to exploit DAO mechanics and what the base coin will trade as, and I can’t seem to find out.
But I also agree with the previous commenter about the founders being Stanford grads. I don’t know if the titans of industry you mentioned were PhD graduates from their Ivy League schools, but I doubt it. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be professionally to have engineered a pump and dump rug pull shit coin as their —> PhD project? I think that even in these crazy times, it’s inconceivable.

Cem Dilmegani

Dec 02, 2021 at 08:36

You can only buy higher rankings on major search engines via advertising. We don’t do search advertising, the results you saw were organic.

Joanne Maiden

Nov 24, 2021 at 09:54

I use it. It costs me my time. Which I value. I put a 5 year cap in this. If I see nothing after 5 years it’s gone. None of my children will download it. They believe it’s a pyramid scheme type scam. I’ve put zero cash into it so time will tell.

Sam Hill

Nov 06, 2021 at 01:12

Thank you for making a very well researched article. After reading some of your first comments though I can’t help but want to encourage your team. People are commenting on your article trying to ask you for information you already gave (alternatives to this possible MLM scam). As well as people saying they know it’s not MLM, when it clearly shows that it is an MLM in its infographics. I’m sorry for the people that are… slow, didn’t read everything, or read some/all and got upset because they didn’t understand. I am very thankful for the information you provided. Now I can confidently stop allowing this scam… (which is my opinion. It’s a scam. ) to steal my data, battery, time and the little hope I had to begin with.

I can’t believe I let my seemingly not so bright, but nice coworker not convince me to let him innocuously bully this into my phone. I was still looking into whether it was a scam, because it really seemed like one. I think one of the biggest takeaway’s I appreciated from this article was when you debunked how divisive usage of academic status vs real business successes can be. That is a takeaway I will not soon forget because I struggled with how to consider their Stanford backgrounds.

Overall I hope your entrepreneurial endeavors a lot more success and I hope you’re able to enjoy my comment.

Very Respectfully,
Sam Hill

Jacob

Nov 05, 2021 at 15:38

Thank you for the info. on these free coins. I have a question,: Many valuable coins today were once freely minable and this makes us believe pi and other free coins could also follow the same trend, is it not right to take some risks here?

Brian D. Sutherland

Nov 03, 2021 at 23:02

An angle to consider when analyzing a Ph D mindset… many often put greater stock in the research end of their projects first, and the monetary value second. I’m by no means claiming that Pi will make me a millionaire (if anything, I’m equally skeptical on what will happen when it hits a Coin Exchange), but I do suspect that the project leaders are not (intentionally) acting nefariously with their work. I would also argue, that act of viewing a single ad, the amount of power consumed, and the amount of data leveraged are hardly flags pointing toward a ponzi scheme. One could argue that for fractions of a penny worth of charges daily, you are getting back an equal amount of “value” (barring we see something otherwise).

3astman

Oct 20, 2021 at 01:35

This article was terribly misinformed. You should really just visit their homepage to learn as much as is required about it. Articles like this dissuade people from mining, which is what is terribly needed at the moment. No it holds no value, so no, nobody is “putting value in it”…That won’t happen until mainnet launches this December, should they stay on schedule. Even then all another delay means is a more robust blockchain, and more time to mine. This isn’t going to make you rich overnight & those who carry that sentiment probably shouldn’t be investing in crypto or the stock market for that matter. It’s going to take time for the protocol to reach widespread adoption, but it will happen, simply because Stanford University has built one of the best blockchains in the US.

Edmund Agbaminor

Oct 16, 2021 at 17:27

I am Eddie based in Nigeria. While I feel your article is quite expository, and to a large extent, put up a strong argument against Pi and its founders, I believe you should not only use your article to shatter the hopes of the common man like me. Instead, I believe you should also try to give us some beacons of hope by coming up with alternative suggestions that we can delve into as an alternative in case Pi fails which I never pray it does.

The truth is that so many of us just need something to leverage on in order to eke out a reasonable living condition. Especially here in Africa and precisely Nigeria, life is very tough for many of us. Therefore, reading about such majorly negatively inclined article is counter-encouraging for us.

As you mentioned we have dedicated time, efforts and our meagre source of livelihood to purchase data subscriptions in order to stay up-to-date with the network. Therefore, you are not doing us any good by writing such an article without suggesting credible alternatives ,that are legit.

I am strongly banking on the launching of Pi because as we speak I am owing my rent for close to a year without being able to pay, moreover my kids school fees are there as well. There are no jobs. The unemployment rate is high and the economic situation is tough. Like others I am hoping something reasonable will come out from Pi. I have been mining it for over a year now.

Please kindly help with what could be alternatives. I know that in order to make it in crypto business one needs to invest some fund but honestly speaking I don’t have money for investment. If I could raise up to 200 dollars, I would have bought some coins like BUSD, USDT, ETHEREUM, BITCOIN etc and go into trading in exchanges but I can’t afford that. Although I do come across some of these things being advertised but I don’t have any money to go for them.

Honestly, I pray that Pi is legit. I just can’t imagine with would be my fate it it turns out to be a scam. God please help me. I believe in sincerity in all I do. Once again thank you for your article and God bless you with more insight.

Anurag Kushwaha

Oct 16, 2021 at 04:32

Hi as of the current situation, I can see that it is not an MLM model however the pi doesn’t hold a real value as as of now is true.
I have installed the app and have found that the hackathon has recently announced some winners and also the projects and ideas being worked on in Brainstorm are viable and could be good assets in the future.
With this said Pi needs to launch its coin on exchange soon to get the real value otherwise a long term project without generating value to users, even if it has potential, will lose value

Kelly Fitzgerald

Oct 15, 2021 at 20:11

How is it a scam? you cant buy any of it officially as it isn’t listed on any exchanges. it is only set as a mobile phone app to mine. I think its a great idea, and development is already completed on the first hackathon they hosted with some very tangible results. If you get scammed its because you did not do your due diligence, right now it is just in the very early stages, and the investment is time on your phone. What does that cost? well for me nothing other than battery usage and recharge rates. it may be worth nothing or it may end up being worth a few bucks…. you have little to lose with this, don’t put all your eggs in one basket diversify and drop only what you can lose, in this case time. Granted this article is old, so you may want to refresh your article, it has become a bit of a scam itself.

Cem Dilmegani

Oct 16, 2021 at 08:56

Agree with it all of that (except that the article is outdated or wrong), if you see your time as worthless.

Viola

Oct 10, 2021 at 03:30

Thank you for this.

Collins

Oct 09, 2021 at 18:35

The author himself is mining pi coins, folks don’t be deceived.

Cem Dilmegani

Oct 16, 2021 at 09:07

🤦

Hassan

Oct 09, 2021 at 14:57

Interesting article. Thanks Cem. Btw we expect you to make more exceptions & talk about similar projects 😉

Cem Dilmegani

Oct 16, 2021 at 09:07

Thanks!

Olatunde Damisa

Oct 05, 2021 at 09:37

Good and informative article helpful to the uninformed. But, one thing is sure: if the Pi Network team is silent on your comments up till now, I believe they are quickly and silently working to improve on/by the issues you have raised. At the time of the Mainnet you may witness a robust and trusted system. Do you believe that?

Cem Dilmegani

Oct 16, 2021 at 09:12

They are definitely working towards the mainnet regardless of whether I write about it or not. But whether they will be able to build something that generates meaningful value to end users is to be seen.

Emmanuel Anyanwu

Oct 01, 2021 at 19:19

The Pi network has promised a lot. I have been sceptical about it but I already started and wishes to see it out, 2022 is not far anymore. The Hackathon has finished and Pi Workforce won the Hackathon. It is a platform where Pi users will either get a job done and get paid in Pi or contract someone to work and pay the person in Pi. There is nothing much I could say just that I wouldn’t wish to miss out, who knows.

Max

Sep 27, 2021 at 22:59

🤔.

After reading the article and some comments, it seems the issue here is that most of those commenting have some concern about the title of this article; referring to the Pi network as a ‘scam’ offering no value to its users.

From the available information to most folks, there has been no pyramid or Ponzi scheme that didn’t collect CASH/MONEY from the victims. I can see that you addressed this with this comment –
“There are hundreds of posts online saying Pi Network can not be a scam because users do not put any money it. Users’ time and data are valuable to those users and they are spending these on the app”.

Like I mentioned the Ponzi schemes and scams known to most people has to do with the exchange and loss of cash/money they can see and not necessarily their time lost/spent – at least that’s the one the authorities usually go after (those that will take money from victims).

I love the mention of the beautiful Brave Browser that has made me realize that the other browsers have been “SCAMMING” me since they (Brave) actually give me a little BAT for looking at Ads while the other browsers do not. All in all this is a good article. However, I would tweak the title to read – “Would the Pi Network ever provide value to its users? Probably no”.

Then go ahead to deliver your strong reasons why you believe the network wouldn’t deliver and as an extra, give the users what they should be looking out for and suggesting to the community in order for value to be delivered (I think you did that but it’s a bit tricky to see with that title mingling with thoughts in the mind of the reader).

Just one more thing, the example of the OneCoin scam executive touting past experiences in McKinsey being compared to those of the Pi Network Founders was a bit off for me. OneCoin was a total scam (made away with their victims’ money) and I dare say that those you mentioned whose legitimate businesses speak for them most likely showed off some of that Ivy League education when they were starting off (that seems to be a normal occurrence).

Thanks for the article.

Samuel Babade Olugunna

Sep 26, 2021 at 06:35

I don’t think Johnson Lee is involved with Pi. He must have created a platform named Pi in order to deceive people. Pi doesn’t request money to “recover your losses” as he put it.

The article is insightful by the way…

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 26, 2021 at 07:57

Thank you!

Onyema ogochukwu maryjane

Sep 25, 2021 at 10:58

Has this pi network started paying or will pay in future and not now

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 26, 2021 at 07:57

It may pay in the future

Dhammapali R

Sep 25, 2021 at 09:25

PI – Frequently asked & answered in their APP

When will PI be worth something? When can I turn PI into real money?

PI’s Holders will be able to turn PI into “real money” when they either purchase goods and services on PI ‘s market place or exchange PI for fiat currency.

My Question – What will happen if the fiat currencies crash?

Gold, Silver or Crypto may be the option. It looks like PI is tagging along the future of Fiat Currency.

What do you say?
Thanks

Kaycee

Sep 25, 2021 at 06:16

I love this article at least it saved me the heartbreak I would have experienced had it been pi network doesn’t work….thanks nice work
As for me starting from the beginning it felt like a scam

Peter

Sep 24, 2021 at 15:05

Tho I won’t say the author is completely wrong because I saw point in what some of the things mentioned here but I would like to speak without sentiment or being biased, I disagree with you when you say users are wasting there time and data if am not wrong 90 percent of people using Facebook, Instagram and other social media are not making money from it instead they lose much more money on data so taking 20 or 30 seconds to click Pi considering the possible future benefit I don’t see as a problem it worth the time. Beside life is all about risk and it is too risky not to take risk I arrest my case.

Soumyajit Sen

Sep 22, 2021 at 16:16

l am also a pi and bee user…but l am not dreaming to be a millionaire by using pi ans bee…l am doing another thing to succeed in life…but just hoping these two will get some value…so that l can get some free dollars..that’s it

Joseph

Sep 22, 2021 at 14:07

I’m just new to pi, i think i still want to observe and read more articles about it and take certain time before making a firm conclusion about it. Thank you.

sboy06

Sep 20, 2021 at 03:46

So much misinformation on this article, I’d like to address it.
1) “The app does not provide any utility to its users beyond functionality like in-app messaging. Most users hold on to it with the hope that they will sometimes convert their virtual coins to actual value”
– Does not provide utility? ~300 Pioneers have the IAT (In-App Transfer) enabled and have the capability of transferring their earned Pi. Those pioneers have HELP facilitate thousands of transactions all over the world.
– Also, have you even opened the app and navigated it? There is a hackathon going on, there have been projects being developed in the brainstorm app including:
Pi Workforce: https://youtu.be/_VXQ7MlroxM
Pi Network NFTs (Uneat): https://youtu.be/ZRmVsWw8Hjc
Piketplace: https://youtu.be/rvQtp9hgaOg
just to name a few…

2) “The app works like a direct selling or affiliate marketing system, promising future rewards to users for bringing in new users. Some users put in additional time and effort to attract new users, such as numerous users adding their codes as comments to this article. We find it similar to Multi Level Marketing since it includes direct selling and provides increased potential benefits to early users (i.e. earlier users mine at an increased rate), however affiliate or direct selling are possibly better analogies.”
– Pi Network is not an MLM, as an MLM required “Multi”-Level. The referral system only rewards you for the people that used your invite code and not the people they invited, which makes it SINGLE level. Multi-level is when you benefit from your invites and the people they invited.

3) “Users are putting value into the app. There are hundreds of posts online saying PI Network can not be a scam because users do not put any money it. Users’ time and data are valuable to those users and they are spending these on the app. For more, you can see our analysis of the app’s privacy policy, its data collections, permissions and the 3rd party software included in the app.
We find it unlikely for the app to create value in the future unlike its claims:
The app creates limited value. Users create no value except for providing their information to the mobile app, viewing ads or messaging other users. The value of these activities is unlikely to generate significant wealth for the large user base.
Some of its current practices are also used in scams:
Founders are already benefitting from the app. They launched optional video ads at launch to monetize the active user base. The app also has a KYC process of collecting passport information. Having a verified audience through a KYC process would increase advertising revenues. We are not against ad funded businesses, we are also such a business, we provide insights and our audience views ads on our pages. However, when businesses that are expected to launch additional features (e.g. launch coin on exchanges), start monetizing their audience, that can create a conflict of interest.”
Their marketing emphasizes the academic credentials of their users. Very similarly, a blockchain scam without blockchain infrastructure, OneCoin, relied on the McKinsey experience of its founder in its marketing.”

– There were no ads in the first 1 year and 3 months, at the time there were only around 1-2 million pioneers and the server cost was around $30,000/monthly that they paid for in that year and 3 months. They asked the community through a survey how they can help cover those costs. The community voted for Ads which is why it was implemented.
– Pi Network currently uses a TRUSTED third party KYC provider called “Yoti.” Pi does not collect or store any of the KYC documents provided. The only thing Yoti sends to Pi Network is whether the user passed KYC or not.

Sources: https://twitter.com/PiCoreTeam/status/1395878096469778436

Yoti is also used by banks and the UK government to verify identities. It is well known and well trusted. As they follow top industry standards for information security. Several times a year external audits are carried out to them to check that their security arrangements are compliant. These auditors follow internationally recognised standards for best practice in security, these are known as ISO 27001 and SOC2.

https://www.yoti.com/privacy/

Biz

Sep 23, 2021 at 14:15

Dude a dedicated server doesn’t cost 30,000 per month…

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 20, 2021 at 07:39

I don’t think your points 2 or 3 are in conflict with the article. For example, we never said that the 3rd party KYC provider is unreliable or untrustworthy.
Regarding your point 1:
– Exchanging virtual currency with no value did not seem like a valuable feature to us. Once the currency has value, we will mention that as a functionality. Btw, we mentioned the testnet which covers this functionality.
– We are aware of the hackathon, it is mentioned in the article. We’ll update the article based on the hackathon results.

Auwal Ibrahim

Sep 19, 2021 at 23:52

This article reminds me of one saga that happened in my country, it was a battle between some crypto giant and one poor educated man who created a token without consulting and partnering with the crypto giants,he single handedly created his new token , and when the token was at pre ICO they out of envy stated saying that this project would not go anywhere, he can not even promote and develop it, unfortunately to them , the project stared to flourish and get a wider recognition so as a result of him not consulting them or not involving them in his project, they started telling people not to but and that the project is a scam ,

So to be truth , this what happened with the author of this mere article, it is out of envy and hatred that he is criticizing pi network, and due to the fact that he is not among the core team made him felt unhappy and jealous,

One excuse that I would give you is that you said you are new in crypto, I would reason you with your ignorance in crypto because every crypto expert would recommend pi network, everyone who knows crypto would give a 5 star rating to pi network,

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 26, 2021 at 08:16

Thanks for sharing your opinion. What is this crypto project that you are talking about?

Ezedavid

Oct 27, 2021 at 09:44

From your article, you began your crypto currency journey in 2017. I began mine in 2016. Can you see that by length of experience, i’ve more to say about cryptos and probably more knowledgeable about cryptos than you are. I’ve some crypto currency experts who have been into crypto currency investment since 2011-2012, and several of them have recommended Pi mining. You talked about Pi launching in exchanges. Can i inform you that from my finding, Binance Hong Kong office mine Pi too? I joined Pi network in June 2020 and i can authoritatively say that i’ve observed nothing similar to a scam about Pi. Pi core team are transparent about the project. I can’t defend Bee cos i equally don’t take them seriously. Nonetheless, even if Pi doesn’t blossom, i’ve nothing to regret. The data i’ve invested into Pi mining is nothing compared to the data i’ve spent watching YouTube videos for which no one pays me. I mine Pi as an investment and i mine it as fun too. If the investment side fails, surely the fun side won’t.

Mshelia Ashina

Sep 19, 2021 at 16:56

Will a user still have a total access the mined pi coin after its launch and if the answer is yes, will it be at same value with which it is being traded?

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 26, 2021 at 08:19

No one can predict the trading value. That will be clarified when the mainnet launches.

THIAGO NUNES

Sep 18, 2021 at 19:44

This article will probably be deleted in 2022 for the author of the text not to be embarrassed in the future, with the success of the Pi Network coin.

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 19, 2021 at 13:35

No, it won’t be deleted, regardless of what happens to the network. I hope it gets to the mainnet stage so users can earn something for their time & data.

Adhi

Sep 23, 2021 at 01:59

I guess this article won’t be deleted in the future, regardless of what happens to the pi network, but it will be modified and edited.

I think the author is quite fair, we’ll just see what happens…

Chung Hou

Sep 18, 2021 at 00:43

Letting one of the biggest scammer in Malaysia (Johnson Lee) to represent Pi Network make the whole thing looks like a scam. Will never trust anything that Johnson Lee involves in.

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 18, 2021 at 05:25

Thank you for the comment, his track record doesn’t seem look good indeed: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/02/11/msians-doubt-jjptr-founders-new-venture

William Dillon

Sep 17, 2021 at 05:37

Honestly….. This is a great review. Im a PI and BEE network user. Obviously, I’d love to see both succeed but I’m also logical; I try to be anyways. Would love to know the author’s thoughts about HBIT!

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 18, 2021 at 05:32

Thank you! Yes, we’ll look into HBIT in a couple weeks

Satria Cahya Gemilang

Sep 15, 2021 at 07:22

This article is very helpful!

Ranjan Chowdhury

Sep 14, 2021 at 09:55

The promoters are not promising the moon They are frank enough to mention it is not a free giveaway.I think they deserve our support if some value accrues over a period of time.

Ste

Sep 14, 2021 at 09:19

I’ve been using the Pi app for a while now and thought exactly what you said this article. They could of easily put it on the exchange by now and were saying they’re going to launch mainnet in the last quarter of this year which has now disappeared. Feels a bit like a carrot on a string situation. It is full of people who look like they’re only collecting so they can quickly sell to make free money. The chats are full of people constantly asking when can they sell, which could be a reason they’re putting it off. When they do add videos they talk with all the programmer jargon which majority of people on there aren’t familiar with! And so what seems like a really clever app could literally just be a front to make money off people’s details and adverts! I stopped mining once I hit a certain amount as I felt like it wasn’t going anywhere, and also don’t think the mainnet will launch this year. I joined it as a long term thing anyway as bitcoin didn’t happen overnight it took a few years to start being of any real value, but they seem to be back tracking on a few things that they were saying a few months ago which I putting me off. I’ve seen other crypto launch a lot quicker with a lot less behind them so don’t understand why these can’t do the same really. Whether people sell theirs or not and it does lose value, surely it would pick up again. People are investing in crypto like doge which was basically a meme so why not pi?

Akintemi Oluwole

Sep 12, 2021 at 07:25

This is the most unbiased review I’ve ever come across.
Thanks

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 12, 2021 at 08:43

Thank you!

Tobias risher

Sep 11, 2021 at 21:28

The author obviously hates PI. You claim to not understand what they’re building and Ive seen hundreds of millions pumped in to meme coins. They’re not collecting money just asking for help and giving out a reward for that help. You describe this as a multi level marketing scheme (pyramid) but that is incorrect. Everyone continues to benefit from all the level below them in a pyramid. That isn’t the case with pi. You benefit from a mining rate by putting together a team, if one of those team members put together a team I don’t benefit from everyone like it would work in a pyramid! I only benefit from my core team. So get out your feeling and be a little less biased. That is just what I picked out on the surface. I’m sure if I read further it will be many more inaccuracies!!!

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 12, 2021 at 08:52

Keep on picking. This point was already clarified in the 3rd bullet of the article that starts with “The app works”.

சேகர்

Sep 10, 2021 at 13:29

In Pi network, what if my introducer is suddenly inactive or dead? Does it affect me and my mining followers?

Eddie

Sep 17, 2021 at 21:25

The inactivity of your introducer only affects in the sense that when they are active you get an increased mining rate.

Brandi

Sep 14, 2021 at 16:03

That’s a question for the Pi team.

Luffy

Sep 10, 2021 at 12:31

This is one of the most honest reviews/pages I have ever found on the internet ❤️

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 10, 2021 at 15:23

Thank you! We do our best to keep the articles simple, direct & honest

bobwolf

Sep 09, 2021 at 19:10

Do you have comments on the SDK or the hackathon

https://github.com/pi-apps/pi-platform-docs

https://pinetwork-official.medium.com/pi-hackathon-agenda-6d0d43d82c2c

Also here is a list of final submission videos – https://www.reddit.com/r/PiNetworkNews/comments/pkgbtp/pi_hackathon_final_presentation_videos/

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 12, 2021 at 09:27

Hi there, thanks for the heads up! We are looking forward to seeing the winners on September 30, we’ll cover it after that.

RoadrunnerLI

Sep 08, 2021 at 16:38

Congratulation, you re still the first hit on ‘PI Network’ search term in Google with your slightly outdated rating of this project. But did you ever review your article and the recent state of what you once called a scam? Beside of 25mio passive supporters, PI has now a huge community of programmers, building lots of platform apps to form the PI ecosystem that will become alive in about 4 months from now. I understand how you came to your conclusion, more than a year ago when things were not so clear about the PI network, but I regret already that I did not start ‘mining’ PIs much earlier, just because of some weakly researched articles like this one! Looking at the project now, you should finally review your work, otherways your article may become the Nr one hit on the Google search term ‘False ratings on most famous crypto currencies’!

Jacob M

Sep 03, 2021 at 21:59

I’ve been doing it for about 6 months and honestly I don’t even realize I’m doing it till I get the reminder to hit the button, then I remember it exists and honestly all I had to do was put my email in. It takes 2 seconds and hell if it’s worth a dollar one day bet, if it is a scam? I didn’t really lose anything. 2 seconds a day isn’t that large, sure you can multiply that out for the whole year but it doesn’t make a difference to me. I’ve never really had the hope it would make a get rich quick plan that was viable, honestly when my neighbor told me about it all I thought was “Eh, why not. Better just do it for a bit than regret if it actually is real.” I’m never going to do the verifications unless it’s released, and since I only do it on my phone I don’t have to. I didn’t even know ads were in it till about a week ago, whenever I open it I click the button then leave the app. The chats just seemed like a cesspool of people trying to get your info out troll, and I have no desire to mess with anything else they do or do not provide. So it really just is an inconsequential thing that I only look into every few months to see if there’s any movement.

Jeffrey Paquin

Aug 25, 2021 at 21:35

To quote you.. “However, if you already have the app, you can wait to see if the founders actually build something of significant value.”

That single statement says to me everything about your biased viewpoint. It further confirms that your understanding of the pi network, its goals and how it will create value is incorrect. You did not take the time to fully research Pi and its core team.
I am an early miner. I have been mining pi since launch. I don’t blame you for your incorrect perception. It is merely a product of the times.
Please take the time to read this and not just skim to wrong assume. For clarity we are NOT a community of 27 million “APP USERS”.. We are a community of miners 27 million strong. We, the community debated and voted to allow the now in chat advertising so that it can subsidize development costs. We are not waiting for the Founder to “actually build something of value” because he won’t and we know this. This project is not about what the Founder will build for us to create value.
Here are some basic key points of the Pi Network that may provide you with better clarity.
1.) The mining rate of Pi has been halved several times since the beginning as the community reached size milestones. There are currently 28 million active pioneers mining pi through the app. when we reach 100 million, the rate will drop to zero and that point forward, no more pi will be mined. There is your scarcity of the asset.
2.) The chat feature of the Pi App has been and still is critical to the project as the core team has put every single decision for project direction since day one to the community where global Pioneer consensus rules the day. Every step taken thus far has been the result of community discussion and consensus agreement.
3.) Pi Network is NOT a project where we (the community) are waiting for the Core Team to “Finally build us something of value”. He already has. He has provided us with a platform to build upon. You see good sir, it is WE, the 28 million Pi Miners that will build things of value. We, the community, 28 million strong will build the applications of products and services for the platform the founders have provided. We, the community will build value for our global Pi.
4.) The Founders are Current Professors at Stanford, have built this with very little starting capital and have accepted in chat advertising to fuel the platform development, not to line his pockets.
5.) Think about this.. We are a community of 29 million Miners. We all have our own unique skills of value to lend to the Pi network. Myself for example am working to build my service to help the community. PiSwap.com. Right now its just a landing page but will grow into a marketplace that will rival Amazon. To start, we will swap pi for other alt coins. Then we will grow and swap pi for products and services and finally Piswap will provide virtual storefronts for the millions of Pioneers to sell their products and services.
6.0) Pi will get it enormous value from the products and services its community will provide.. Pi’s current value is in it’s active community. 28 Million everyday, active users. What other project can boast of 28million active daily users.
7.) Pi is NOT currently traded on any exchanges by design. Pi is not hedging growth against Market speculation. Remember this simple fact. Cryptocurrency tokens are meant to be proxy mechanisms for smart contract execution first and foremost.
8.0) When 100 million pioneers start building highly valued applications, products and services on the pi network, then you will see the Pi Network native token Pi rival Ethereum in value.

You are a great writer. Please take another look into Pi and gain a better understanding of the project.

Respectfully,
Jeffrey Paquin USMC Vet
Founder Piswap.com.. We swap Pi.

Cem Dilmegani

Sep 19, 2021 at 14:00

Thanks, well written. We evaluate based on tangible products, not plans. So far we haven’t seen/heard about useful solutions built on the network. We’ll check the hackathon results and update the article. That would be a good chance to incorporate this perspective if we see useful apps built on the platform.

Peter

Aug 25, 2021 at 14:47

I’m very confused as whether this app is legit or not. We hoping to see what will happen at the end of the year. All fingers crossed

David

Aug 21, 2021 at 10:47

For me this is, most of all, a great visualisation exercise, having an account in cryptocurrency which grows when I put my attention to it every day. It creates an evidence for my subconscious that when I do something with with minimal effort and with consistency at the same time, the benefit can eventually grow long term. A delayed gratification. So I see it rather as my “inner crypto account”. It also helps me understand more the concept of ‘mining a cryptocurrency’ as it inspires me to do my own research and look for other ways to invest in crypto. That’s it. If it brings real financial benefit later, that will only be a plus. 🙂 I am aware of the data collection though.

Brandi

Sep 14, 2021 at 16:05

That’s an awesome perspective to take.

Dale

Aug 19, 2021 at 03:32

Thanks for a balanced overview. The only real value I see is in the verification of identity because of overlapping networks, adding another level of trust in identity. My cousin asked me to install on the iPad, and I ran a few (dozen?) sessions until I was prompted for “Stage 2” and access to my Contacts. I said no, but I am looking deeper.

Still skeptical, but less so. They seem legit, and verified identity is going to be a valuable currency in a digital world.

Great article.

Sunday Olawale

Aug 17, 2021 at 16:37

All the criticisms herein are plausible but may not be the truth. Let’s give Pi Core Team a long rope to pull. If the goal post of Launching/Mainnet is shifted at the end of Year 2021, then we would know what to do. For now, let’s regard them as sincere, efficient and straightforward.

Jatha

Aug 17, 2021 at 10:43

Lol, pi is merely luring people to sign up in the platform and adding value to itself. I still cannot fathom why people waste their time signing up n effort to share it with others. Well yeah basic analogy, why would you expect to earn a currency without investing an amount first? XD
Pi is still not tradable

George Washington

Aug 15, 2021 at 20:21

just reverse engineer the app and you’ll find a load of popunder ads.
when asked why pi doesnt list on an exchange like coinbase, i was told its fees are too high and pi does like that. basically a cop out.

TLDR: pi is a scam. dont install.

Minh Nguyen

Aug 15, 2021 at 17:31

I made a simple math that they have around 10m users that earn as much as me. When they launch their initial market cap wouldn’t be more than 100mil $, I’d think. So i spent 1 whole year clicking to earm 10$. If Pi is so good I can just spend that 10$ at launch.

Skeptical Button Pusher

Aug 12, 2021 at 00:14

I wonder how the people at Stanford feel about these people using them as a backdrop for this project. Who knows what’s going on with this thing. I’ve used the chats and it’s the wild west. Hard to enable or Block sections or people. And the MODS!! Some are so rude to newbies that I’ve seen people leave and never return. And at the same time, they have a general chat area that’s just a bizarre free-for-all without control over the mob.. That is NOT how you grow a project. I ran a node for a short time, but after seeing the awkwardness and lack of information and control I decided not to waste my computer or electrical power for this so-called project. The website is basic and void of any information or updates. It’s so bad that if you go to a page like “Platform”, there isn’t even a link to get back to the HOME page. And this project is from PROFESSORS? At a Prestigious College? Have you researched their history too? Past projects they were involved in have had their websites shut down, or the apps have low usage and horrible ratings. Last thing I see is their Application page to work there. Discriminate much? It basically calls for past or prior students to apply. Kind of suggestive discrimination. If I was on the Stanford Board, I would immediately call for them to remove ANY mention of association with the school.

Yianni

Aug 08, 2021 at 07:54

I been mining Pi for long time and accumulated over 6000 Pi, but suddenly PI App stopped functioning
Then, I tried for three week emailing Pi support almost every day but received no reply. When I used Pi on Facebook got 3 responses to help but I did not proceed further because there is no way to know if the response was legitimate or not.
According to the above mentioned lack of any response from Pi support , it would seem to appear that do not have a team dedicated for support, except the community.

Ezedavid

Oct 27, 2021 at 09:57

I’ve been mining Pi and still mining and i’ve guided 2 different persons recover their mined Pi after losing their phones.

You either didn’t follow the guidelines given to you by the members of the community or you didn’t ask the right questions.

Cem Dilmegani

Aug 08, 2021 at 14:13

Thank you for your comment. To be honest, I wouldn’t blame them for not providing support, it is a free product with millions of users so providing only community support would make sense.

Julius V

Aug 05, 2021 at 22:00

I’m sure this article is all about finding the truth of crypto but also bashing the idea that pi is a pyramid scheme. I mean if pi is a scheme and can be proven that it is a scheme due to your exact research and understanding about it. Why don’t we all just file for a lawsuit?. Wouldn’t filing for a lawsuit make us rich faster? And if so why would the developers creators even make this mining app only to get sued in the end? Scamming the entire world would possibly cost you your life.

vscrs

Aug 05, 2021 at 13:02

Pi it’s a well organized scam. I was a user since early 2020. All chat admins are just trained to block those who ask reasonable questions about the project progress. I was blocked because I asked the reason mainet is so late since pi network is a stellar fork. There are people that press a stupid button everyday two years now…

Frank

Aug 04, 2021 at 01:58

Mark, Pi already crossed the 20 million user mark.

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