Crypto World

Is the Pi Network Dream Over? Core Team’s Anniversary Post Met With Fury From Pioneers

Published

6 hours ago

22 February 2026

“What reason is there to celebrate,” asked one of the popular Pioneers below the Core Team’s post.

The team behind the controversial project posted a celebratory message a few days ago, marking the first anniversary of the Open Network’s launch.

However, many users questioned the project’s actual use case once again and lashed out at the lack of migration progress.

Open Network Celebrates 1st Birthday

In its blog post, the team began by outlining some of the achievements reached even before the official launch of the Open Network on February 20, 2025.

“Prior to Open Network, the Pi community collectively built out the ecosystem over six years to ensure Pi’s readiness and sustainable utility. This developmental period allowed Pi to create real apps and utilities for Pioneers to engage with, and verify the identities of millions of Pioneers to prepare the network for real-world assets and production processes.”

They explained that the main idea of Pi is to be a freely accessible, allowing “anyone to mine without technical or financial barriers.” The team added that this design allowed wide distribution and inclusivity, and also enabled the network and all participants to “afford the patience to engage in the difficult work necessary to establish a fully functional ecosystem predicated on utility.”

The post doubled down on the network’s progress, which aligns with the team’s long-term vision and strategy – to create an inclusive, utility-driven, and widely-adopted cryptocurrency that is broadly accessible.

Pioneers Lash Out

Perhaps it was some of those claims that triggered a significant backlash from numerous Pioneers on X under the Core Team’s post. YouLong/PiNetwork – a popular Pioneer with 27,000 followers, raised a few valid questions about the network’s state and the performance of the underlying token:

“What reason is there to celebrate? To celebrate the fact that compliant users have not migrated? Or to celebrate the steady decline in coin prices over the past year since its launch? Please approach the genuine concerns of long-time miners with objectivity.”

It’s worth noting that the PI token has been in a free-fall state for nearly a year. It peaked at $2.99 on February 26 last year, but has plunged by 94.5% since then and now sits inches above $0.16.

Crypto World

Crypto Capital Shifts From Tokens to Stocks as Launches Struggle: DWF

Published

24 minutes ago

22 February 2026

NewsAdmin

Crypto Capital Shifts From Tokens to Stocks as Launches Struggle: DWF

Investor capital increasingly flows from tokens into publicly listed crypto companies as new token launches struggle, according to research and commentary from market maker DWF Labs.

Drawing on Memento Research data covering hundreds of token launches across major centralized and decentralized exchanges, the firm said more than 80% of projects have fallen below their token generation event (TGE) price. Typical drawdowns range between 50% and 70% within roughly 90 days of listing, suggesting public buyers often face immediate losses after launch.

DWF Labs managing partner Andrei Grachev told Cointelegraph that the figures reflect a consistent post-listing pattern rather than short-term market volatility. He said most tokens reach a price peak within the first month and then trend downward as selling pressure builds.

“TGE price is the exchange-listed price set before launch,” Grachev said. “This is the price the token is set to open at on the exchange, so we can see how much the price actually changes due to volatility in the first few days,” he added.

The analysis focused on structured launches tied to projects with products or protocols, rather than memecoins. Airdrops and early investor unlocks were identified as major sources of selling pressure.

Crypto IPOs, M&A surge as capital shifts from tokens

In contrast, capital formation has strengthened in traditional markets tied to the sector. Fundraising for crypto-related initial public offerings (IPOs) reached about $14.6 billion in 2025, up sharply from the prior year, while merger and acquisition (M&A) activity surpassed $42.5 billion, the highest level in five years.

Grachev said the shift should be understood as a rotation rather than a withdrawal of capital. If capital were simply leaving crypto, you wouldn’t see IPO raises jump 48x year-over-year to $14.6 billion, M&A hit a 5-year high of over $42.5 billion, and crypto equity performance outpacing token performance,” he said.

In its report, DWF compared listed companies such as Circle, Gemini, eToro, Bullish and Figure with tokenized projects using trailing 12-month price-to-sales ratios. Public equities traded at multiples between roughly 7 and 40 times sales, compared with 2 to 16 times for comparable tokens.

The firm argued that the valuation gap is driven by accessibility. Many institutional investors, including pension funds and endowments, are restricted to regulated securities markets. Public shares can also be included in indexes and exchange-traded funds, creating automatic buying from passive investment products.

Maksym Sakharov, co-founder and group CEO of WeFi, also confirmed to Cointelegraph that there has been a capital rotation from token launches. “When risk appetite tightens, investors don’t stop craving exposure, so they start demanding cleaner ownership, clearer disclosure, and a path to enforceable rights,” he said.

Sakharov added that the money is going toward businesses that look like infrastructure because of custody, payments, settlement, brokerage, compliance and plumbing. He noted that the “equity wrapper” is attractive because it aligns with real-world adoption, enabling licensing, audits, partnerships and distribution channels.

Why investors favor crypto equities over tokens?

The market is increasingly treating tokens and businesses as separate things, Sakharov said, noting that a token alone cannot replace distribution or a working product. If a project fails to generate steady users, fees, transaction volume and retention, the token ends up priced on expectations rather than real activity, which is why many launches look successful at first but later disappoint.

Listed crypto equities are not necessarily safer, but they are clearer and easier for investors to evaluate, according to Sakharov. Public companies offer reporting standards, governance and legal claims, and they fit within institutional portfolio rules, whereas holding tokens often requires custody approvals and policy changes.