Nearly a full year has passed since Pi opened its network and was listed on exchanges. However, Pi’s price performance has disappointed many Pioneers, as the token has dropped around 94% from its all-time high. Recent activity suggests the Pi Core Team may be rolling out new plans to strengthen the ecosystem.

At the same time, heavy unlock pressure is raising concerns that the downtrend could worsen.

Sponsored

Pi Core Team Moves Over 500 Million Pi in Early February

Wallet addresses labeled by Piscan — a Pi Network data tracking platform — as belonging to the Pi Core Team recorded several large transactions in the first days of February. This activity came as Pi’s price fell about 25% year to date, trading near $0.16.

One major transaction involved the PI Foundation 1 wallet moving 500 million Pi, worth more than $80 million. The wallet did not transfer Pi to exchanges. Instead, the funds were sent to another internal wallet also labeled as PI Foundation 1.

The move followed an announcement from the Pi Core Team stating that more than 16 million Pioneers have completed Mainnet migration. Around 2.5 million Pioneers who were previously blocked due to security checks have now been unblocked and can migrate.

The team also announced that over the next few weeks, more than 700,000 Pioneers will gain access to apply for KYC. In addition, a reward distribution system for KYC validators is currently being tested. Deployment is expected by the end of March 2026.

Sponsored

Many Pioneers believe the team’s on-chain transfers are preparations for upcoming plans.

“These updates reflect ongoing efforts to expand access to KYC and Mainnet migration, enabling broader participation in Pi’s ecosystem,” Pi Network stated.

On the positive side, more Pioneers completing Mainnet migration could make the Pi ecosystem more active and boost demand. However, it may also test long-term investor confidence, pushing holders to decide whether to sell or continue holding.

Sponsored

More Than 193 Million Pi to Unlock in February

Piscan data shows that more than 193 million Pi will unlock in February, worth over $31 million. This is the largest unlock amount scheduled for the period from now to October 2027.

On average, the next 30 days will see more than 7 million Pi unlocked per day, equivalent to around $1.1 million.

A recent BeInCrypto report noted that Pi’s trading volume on exchanges has dropped sharply. Daily volume remains weak, showing no improvement and staying below $20 million. Low volume combined with heavy unlock pressure creates a negative mix that continues to weigh on price.

Sponsored

However, early February has shown some signs of demand returning. Exchange balance data compiled by Piscan indicates that Pi reserves on exchanges have started to decline after months of staying elevated.

Pi exchange balances currently stand at around 419.9 million Pi, down from 427 million Pi last month. While the decline is still modest, it suggests that early accumulation may be underway as prices remain low.

BeInCrypto’s latest analysis suggests positive sentiment could return. February is seen as the anniversary month of Pi Network’s exchange debut. Investors are also looking ahead to Pi Day in March.

Several layer-2 builders responded after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the original vision of L2s as the primary scaling engine “no longer makes sense,” calling for a shift toward specialization.

In a Wednesday post, Buterin argued that many L2s have failed to fully inherit Ethereum’s security due to continued reliance on multisig bridges, while the base layer is increasingly capable of handling more throughput via gas-limit increases and future native rollups.

The comments prompted responses from Ethereum layer 2s, who broadly agreed that rollups must evolve beyond being cheaper versions of Ethereum but diverged on whether scaling should remain central to their role.

The Ethereum ecosystem is grappling with a shifting roadmap that aims to make the base layer more capable, while L2s reposition themselves as specialized environments serving distinct technical needs.

Ethereum L2 builders accept shift, differ on scaling’s role

Karl Floersch, a co-founder of the Optimism Foundation, said in an X post that he welcomed the challenge of building a modular L2 stack that supports “the full spectrum of decentralization.”

He also acknowledged that major hurdles exist. These include long withdrawal windows, the lack of production-ready Stage 2 proofs and insufficient tooling for cross-chain apps. 

“Stage 2 isn’t production-ready,” Floersch wrote, adding that existing proofs are not yet secure enough to support major bridges. He also supported native Ethereum precompile for rollups, a concept that Buterin recently emphasized as a way to make trustless verification more accessible.

Steven Goldfeder, the co-founder of Arbitrum developer Offchain Labs, took a more forceful stance in a lengthy X thread. He argued that while the rollup model has evolved, scaling remains a core value of L2s. 

Goldfeder said Arbitrum was not built as a “service to Ethereum,” but because Ethereum provides a high-security, low-cost settlement layer that makes large-scale rollups viable.

He also pushed back on the idea that a scaled Ethereum mainnet could replace the throughput currently handled by L2 networks. Goldfeder cited periods of high activity when Arbitrum and Base processed over 1,000 transactions per second, while Ethereum handled fewer. 

He warned that if Ethereum was perceived to be hostile to rollups, institutions might launch independent layer-1 chains rather than deploy on Ethereum. 

Related: Stablecoin ‘dust’ txs on Ethereum triple post-Fusaka: Coin Metrics

Base frames differentiation, Starknet hints alignment

Jesse Pollak, head of Base, said in an X post that Ethereum’s L1 scaling was “a win for the entire ecosystem.” He agreed that L2s cannot just be “Ethereum but cheaper.” 

Pollak said Base has focused on onboarding users and developers while working toward Stage 2 decentralization, adding that differentiation through applications, account abstraction and privacy features align with the direction Buterin outlined. 

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson, whose company develops the non-EVM Starknet rollup, offered a brief but pointed reaction on X, writing: “Say Starknet without saying Starknet.”

Ben-Sasson’s comment hinted that some ZK-native L2s see themselves as already fitting the specialized role Buterin described.

Magazine: Ethereum’s Fusaka fork explained for dummies: What the hell is PeerDAS?