Pi Network Faces Insider Sell-Off Claims After 50% Price Crash

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It seems Pi Network has found itself in a rather troublesome predicament, as its native token, PI, experienced a rather dramatic decline, plummeting more than 50% in the past five days. A rather scandalous turn of events, wouldn’t you agree? 😲

The sharp drop has inevitably given rise to a new set of accusations, with whispers of a potential “rug pull” taking over the community. Users have reportedly uncovered some suspiciously large token transfers, all linked to insiders. How very convenient. 🤔

12 Million Tokens Transfer Sparks Rug Pull Fears for Pi Network

On May 17, an esteemed community member—Dr. Picoin, no less—made a rather startling accusation against the Pi Core Team. He asserted that the team had conveniently offloaded millions of PI tokens during a rather opportune price spike, which, as luck would have it, was right around $1.60. Oh, how the timing was impeccable! 🤑

Dr. Picoin referenced blockchain data that revealed a transfer of 12 million PI tokens and suggested that the Core Team may have manipulated the price while the unsuspecting community was distracted by, you guessed it, announcements of progress. Or rather, the illusion of it. 🤨

“The Core Team sold tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of Pi at the peak — all while the community was distracted by announcements and the illusion of progress,” Dr. Picoin boldly declared.

His allegations, though still unverified (as one would expect in such matters), spread like wildfire, sending the Pi holders into a state of near-panic. The accusations stirred up a lively debate about the transparency and trustworthiness of the project. Oh, the drama! 😬

While some users expressed genuine concern about the potential insider profiteering, others waved the claims off as nothing more than misinformation. After all, what’s a little controversy without a bit of conflicting opinion? 🤷‍♀️

One particularly dedicated Pi supporter, perhaps with a touch too much optimism, argued that the transactions were simply part of the migration of user balances from testnet to mainnet. Why not, right? Always a reasonable explanation when things go wrong. 🤓

The account in question pointed to a wallet address, GABT7EMP, which, they claimed, had long been labeled as an operational distribution wallet. Nothing to see here, folks! Move along! 🙄

“They are saying Pi is being sold. Not true. Only those who don’t understand this wallet will be misled. Don’t be one of them. They are using Piscan which shows outflow to mislead you,” the account hastily defended.

The controversy came hot on the heels of Pi Network’s much-hyped appearance at Consensus 2025, where—brace yourselves—expectations were high for a mainnet launch and a widespread rollout of dApps. But instead, what did we get? A $100 million ecosystem fund, Pi Network Ventures. Oh, joy. 😒

While this announcement might have been part of a long-term strategy for the project’s growth, one can’t help but wonder if it contributed to the mass sell-off. How utterly disappointing for those with such grand hopes of dApps. 🫣

“The community believed they were heading toward a full Mainnet launch with 100 high-quality DApps — but instead, on May 14th, there was no major update. Just Pi Network Ventures,” Dr. Picoin pointed out, his disappointment palpable.

Despite the uproar, Pi co-founder Dr. Nicolas Kokkalis used the occasion to speak of Pi Network’s bright future. He shared ambitious plans to integrate artificial intelligence and decentralized identity tools for Web3 applications. How very forward-thinking!

And, in case anyone was still in doubt, Kokkalis confirmed that the network’s central node had been decommissioned, signaling the approach of full decentralization. Progress, at last! He also introduced the Horizon upgrade for Pi Node operators, a step, no doubt, toward mainnet readiness—whenever that may be. 😏

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2025-05-17 21:48