On December 29th, Houbi Global made an announcement regarding the listing of the mobile phone-centric PI Network on its exchange. However, PI Network says that this was done “without consent” and issued a statement to that effect on Saturday.
PI Network describes itself as a cryptocurrency and developer platform that allows mobile users to mine Pi tokens without draining their device’s battery.
Its blockchain not only secures economic transactions through a mobile meritocracy system, but also provides “a full Web 3.0 experience” where community developers can build decentralized applications (dApps).
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PI is currently in an Enclosed Network
In the statement, PI Network stated that “PI is currently in the Enclosed Network and is not approved by PI Network for listing on any exchange or for trading, and PI Network was not involved with any of these purported postings or listings.”
The network warned its pioneers and potential users not to engage with such exchanges or third-party actors because they are not affiliated with PI Network, and requested that “posts and exchange listings be removed.”
The irony of founders of a decentralized asset trying to control who uses it, when, and where is not lost.
“Transactions of PI through an exchange are explicitly prohibited during the Enclosed Mainnet Period,” PI Network also clarified.
Deposits and withdrawals will be opened soon
Houbi, however, stated in its announcement that “once the main network is upgraded successfully, Huobi will open Pi for deposit and withdrawal.
“Once the main network is upgraded successfully, Huobi will open Pi for deposit and withdrawal,” the announcement said.
This action has been criticized on the internet, with one Reddit user calling it a “PI Network listing scam.” He went on to say that many of their friends have been mining PI coin on their mobile phones and have accumulated thousands of PI coins, and that Houbi’s listing of the coin has caused the price to skyrocket to over $250, despite the actual value being in cents.
According to data from CoinGecko, PI Network is being traded on Huobi at a price of $257.83 per coin at the time of writing.
What is PI Network?
PI Network is a cryptocurrency token developed by a team led by Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan, who are listed on the website as Head of Technology and Head of Product, respectively. It aims to make cryptocurrency mining accessible to everyone with the goal of decentralizing the mining process and reducing the barriers to entry for people who want to participate in the cryptocurrency market.
PI Network uses a mobile-based mining application and a consensus-based Proof of Engagement mechanism to enable users to mine the currency on their phones or tablets. The project also offers a multi-level marketing system that allows users to earn rewards when they refer other users to the platform.
The team describe it as digital money for everyone. They published a whitepaper on March 14, 2019.
PI Coins can be minted through a single application, and the referral plan also contributed to its growing user base.
After its establishment, PI Network gained popularity due to its easier mining process compared to some other cryptocurrencies. PI Network famously claims to have all the advantages of Bitcoin, much like many other cryptocurrencies.
Pi has not been listed on any exchange, and Pi Network has not been involved with any purported listings. You could sustain substantial loss by participating in unauthorized listings. Read more on our website: https://t.co/rbntZ7DROj pic.twitter.com/LJztPOH35c
— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) December 30, 2022
In terms of technology, Pi Network uses a consensus algorithm called Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT), which is different from Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus algorithm. BFT is being marketed as energy efficient and according to its users it requires less computing power than Bitcoin’s proof-of-work algorithm.
Pi Network’s blockchain is also permissionless, meaning anyone can join the network and participate in mining without having to obtain permission from anyone.
However, its security assumptions are untested compared to Bitcoin, meaning that its actually not more secure or more energy-efficient in real life, compared to Bitcoin. The technologies aren’t really comparable, as BTC:s mechanism secures its chain using overwhelming power, rather than algorithmic tricks.
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