Allegations of insider selling have cast a significant shadow over Pi Network. Blockchain researcher Atlas claimed that 12 million PI coins were transferred from a wallet associated with the project’s team to exchanges, coinciding with a price drop of over 50%. The network, which grew rapidly with the interest of 60 million users, faced a sudden disruption in the value of PI since the mainnet launch, leading to panic within the community. Could the year’s most sensational altcoin project be facing an $8 billion insider escape scenario?
The 12 Million PI Coin Transfer Raises Suspicions
At the beginning of May, PI was trading at $0.61, and on May 12th, it surged to $1.67, marking a significant increase. According to on-chain data compiled by Atlas, the main wallet, alleged to be connected to the team, was found to have transferred 12 million PI coins to exchanges during the same period. At that time, the total market value was calculated to be eight billion dollars, sparking “inside-fed pump” speculations in the market. The researcher’s call to “watch the wallets, not the announcements” was shared thousands of times on social media.
Within just forty-eight hours, the PI coin price dropped by more than 40%. At the time of writing, it is trading at around $0.73. New investors, who entered the market with a dazzling rise, are stunned by the sharp correction.
Atlas described the timing of the coin transfer, the wallet matches, and the lack of official announcements as elements of a “classic cryptocurrency pump-and-dump” scheme. According to the researcher, Pi Network planned a massive sale behind the scenes, using mass adoption as a facade.
Pi Network Community Divided: Migration or Dump?
A portion of the Pi Network community defends the coin transfer as a routine migration from the testnet to the mainnet. They point out that such transitions are included in the roadmap indicated by the team. They believe the transferred PIs were not sold but merely moved between Blockchains during the migration process, attributing the price drop to general market volatility.
The critics, however, find this explanation unconvincing. They highlight factors such as the closed-source code, the zero number of functioning dApps, and the relatively low number of active wallets compared to the total number of users, emphasizing a high level of mistrust. Moreover, given the clear on-chain relationship between the transferring wallet and the Pi Core team, the “routine” statement is insufficient to allay suspicions. Atlas and its supporters insist on the notion of “community funds being quietly exhausted” and reiterate the call for independent audits.
