Pi Network (PI) has plunged nearly 50% from its recent five-month high despite completing what its developers call a foundational upgrade to protocol version 20.2, which is meant to eventually support smart contract functionality on the network's mainnet blockchain.
Protocol Upgrade Completed
The Pi Network Core Team announced on X earlier today that all major nodes have been upgraded to version 20.2 and are now supporting protocol 20, completing a migration that was actually finalized within the original Mar. 12 deadline.
The upgrade followed two earlier protocol bumps — v19.6 on Feb. 20 and v19.9 on Mar. 4.
According to the team's post, protocol 20 "provides the foundation to enable smart contract capabilities," with the rollout set to occur gradually and prioritize "categories that align with utility-based product innovation and operations."
The team added that the specific types of smart contracts featured will depend on needs arising from the utility creation process. The upgrade had been hinted at in the project's Pi Day celebratory post over the weekend but was formally confirmed today with additional details.
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Price Keeps Falling
The token had rallied from around $0.20 to nearly $0.30 in late February and early March, boosted in part by a listing announcement from major U.S. crypto exchange Kraken on Mar. 13. That momentum collapsed quickly in what amounted to a sell-the-news event, with PI sliding back to $0.20 the following day and breaking below that support level yesterday.
As of the past 12 hours, PI has dropped to under $0.175. PiScan data indicates that upcoming token unlocks for the rest of March are relatively modest — below 4 million coins daily — except for Mar. 20, when nearly 16 million tokens are scheduled for release.
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