With a 60+ million-strong community, including over 19 million KYC’d users, Pi Network is set to revolutionize the crypto sector with the launch of its next phase, the Open Network. Today they announce that this much-anticipated launch will occur at 8:00am UTC on February 20, 2025.
Open Network will bring significant change–external connectivity – to the Layer-1 blockchain that has already been live in its Enclosed Network period since December 2021. The network, along with its fully-developed functionalities, ecosystem components, utility-based applications and the massive crypto-enabled social network will enter a new era where Pi can, for the first time, connect securely with external systems and expand opportunities for Pi Network Pioneers and businesses alike.
Dr. Nicolas Kokkalis, one of two Pi Network Founders, and Head of Technology, explains that the Open Network phase will allow for greater utility within the network: “Pi is the world’s first crypto that users can mine for free on mobile phones which has helped, and will continue to help, bring crypto to the hands of millions of people around the world through accessibility.”
“The Pi blockchain allows people to conduct business with identity-verified individuals and businesses. This feature is unheard of for a Layer-1 blockchain, and opens completely new horizons for blockchain-based utility. Third party apps and services built on Pi can interact directly with KYC-verified people, and people can interact with KYB-verified businesses and crypto services,” added Kokkalis, a Stanford University Ph.D. focusing on combining distributed systems and human-computer interaction to bring cryptocurrency to everyday people.
Dr. Chengdiao Fan, Pi’s other Founder and Head of Product, added that “Open Network is the culmination of our endeavours to build and launch a fully developed and inclusive worldwide peer-to-peer ecosystem and online experience, fueled by Pi, with the focus of it to becoming the most widely used cryptocurrency.”
Pi’s Open Network allows for external connectivity on the Pi Mainnet, which permits the Pi token to interface with other compliant networks and systems. The external connectivity also enables the community and the decentralized world to use new types of utilities, and bridge Pi with real-world businesses and their fiat-based operations.
In a connected world, users can continue to use Pi as a universally understood and accepted medium of exchange, simplifying payments and expanding opportunities across the Pi ecosystem.
Pi has already seen widespread adoption as a medium of exchange, well before Open Network. PiFest 2024—a one week event connecting local Pi-powered businesses with Pioneers—attracted over 27,000 active sellers and 28,000 test merchants across 160 countries. The event showcased Pi’s complete ecosystem for local commerce integration, connecting store discovery through Map of Pi, payments via Pi Wallet, transactions on Pi Mainnet blockchain, and social sharing on Fireside Forum – all seamlessly working across different existing Pi applications.
Over six years of development, including the three-year Enclosed Network period of Mainnet that began in December 2021, Pi Network bootstrapped, grew and prepared for the Open Network era. Specifically, the Enclosed Network allowed Pioneers to complete KYC and migrate their Pi balances to Mainnet, and developers to build apps and utilities for the Pi ecosystem. All the while, the network grew to have over 200,000 nodes run by decentralized community members all around the world, the Core Team built and improved various Pi features and utilities, and Pi developers launched more than 100 Mainnet or Mainnet-ready apps on Pi Network’s Web3 developer platform. Apps in the Pi ecosystem can be accessed and used through the Pi Browser, allowing Pioneers to transact for real goods and services in Pi. Some of these apps are also included in the Ecosystem Interface, which showcases Testnet and Mainnet Pi Apps built by the community.
With Open Network in place, Pioneers will continue to have the ability to mine withrate adjustments in line with the declining exponential issuance model and monthly limits as stated in the Whitepaper. They will also continue to have the ability to use the fully developed network utility, which enables them to engage with Pi Apps, and transact with actual Pi, boosting the ecosystem’s real-world utility.
“As Pi Network enters the Open Network phase, we invite Pioneers, developers, and businesses to explore the collaborative ecosystem which has benefited from their active participation and leadership in driving innovation and building a sustainable decentralized world together,” said Fan.
