Pi Network bucks crypto market crash as major mainnet upgrade fuels hype

Pi Network price managed to brush off the bearish sentiment prevailing in the broader crypto market amid a major mainnet upgrade that introduced smart contract functionality to the Pi ecosystem.

According to data from crypto.news, Pi Network (PI) price initially fell 5% to an intraday low of $0.171 on March 19 before recouping from its losses and edging higher to $0.177 at press time. The token, however, remains nearly 40% lower than its high, which it attained following its highly anticipated listing on crypto exchange Kraken.

Pi Network’s resilience amidst the sectorwide downturn can be attributed to hype surrounding its mainnet upgrade to version 20. The latest upgrade brings the ability to support smart contracts to the network. This means developers can now build decentralized applications and other services on the platform, which could ultimately drive development and adoption of the Pi ecosystem.

In a March 19 X post, Pi developers also revealed that version 21 of the protocol would soon be rolled out. They instructed node operators to ensure their systems are up to date and to wait for more detailed instructions.

Major announcements such as these tend to boost investor demand for the token and thus add upward pressure on its price.

The latest upgrade follows a series of protocol updates that began on Feb. 20, when the team rolled out its first upgrade of the year to version 19.6.

Despite the bullish development for the Pi ecosystem, charts seem to present a bearish outlook for the Pi token for the upcoming sessions.

On the daily chart, Pi Network price has fallen below the 50, 100, and 200-day moving averages, a sign that the long-term trend has shifted decisively in favor of sellers. The only exception was the 20-day SMA at $0.176, which stands as the final line of support preventing a deeper slide into bearish territory.

As PI price fell, it flipped the Supertrend indicator red, which means the market bias has turned negative and volatility is now working against the bulls. Furthermore, the MACD lines have pointed downwards, which indicates that bears have seized dominance over the price action, and momentum is currently favoring further downside.

For now, $0.176 is the most important support level to keep an eye on. A drop below this could instill confidence in bears to push prices down to the Feb 23 low of $0.156. However, a break above the $0.200 psychological resistance would invalidate the bearish forecast and potentially signal a trend reversal.