Pi Network Price is Falling After V23 Upgrade: Here’s Why

Pi Network price extended its decline on May 20, falling to its lowest level since Feb. 13. Pi Coin traded at $0.1510, down sharply from the yearly high of $0.2975.

The decline continued despite the network completing its V23 upgrade, which introduced new infrastructure features tied to smart contracts and developer tools.

Pi Network Price Drops After V23 Upgrade

Pi Coin price remains under pressure this week despite the network completing the closely-watched V23 upgrade. This upgrade has introduced new features and boosted its performance as it aligns it with Stellar Protocol’s consensus.

The most important feature of this upgrade is its smart contracts, which are self-executing computer programs stored in a blockchain. They enable developers to build decentralized applications in areas such as decentralized finance and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.

By launching this upgrade, Pi Network has now become a viable competitor to other chains Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It will now have dApps similar to Uniswap, Pump.fun, and PancakeSwap.

In line with this, the developers recently launched Remote Procedure Calls (RPC), which are useful when building decentralized applications. Also, the developers are working on the PiDEX network, which will help people trade Pi tokens.

Still, the main risk for the upgrade is that the smart contract industry has become highly saturated, with hundreds of chains, with the most notable one being Ethereum, Solana, and Base. In the past, many chains that came up to challenge the big ones didn’t succeed and became ghost chains.

For Pi Network to succeed as a layer-1 network, it will need to attract quality developers, which is not easy.

Pi Demand Remains Weak

The other main reason why the Pi Network price is falling is that its demand remains weak. Data compiled by CoinMarketCap shows the coin had a trading volume of $11 million over the last 24 hours. While this was a 6% increase, it is still quite little for a crypto project with over $1.5 billion in market cap and $15.1 billion in fully diluted valuation (FDV).

These numbers mean that its demand is not growing even after the recent Kraken listing. Data shows that Kraken had a 24-hour trading volume of just $34k, well below that of other exchanges. OKX recorded $3 million in volume, while Bitget and Gate recorded $1.2 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

Pi Network’s volume is much lower than that of other coins. For example, XRP volume was over $1.8 billion, while Zcash had a 24-hour volume of $625 million.

Broader Crypto Market Weakness

The ongoing Pi Network price crash is mostly because of the general crypto market weakness. Bitcoin price retreated to $77,000, while Ethereum dropped to $2,125. Other tokens, such as Solana and XRP, have also continued to fall over the past few days.

This retreat is happening amid investor concern about rising bond yields and the US dollar. Data shows that the 30-year has jumped to 5.2%, the highest point in years. Whenever this happens, investors often move from risky assets.

Pi Network Coin Price Technical Analysis

The daily chart reveals that the Pi Coin price has dropped in the past few days. It has now dropped below the important support level at $0.1637, its lowest level on April 13.

The coin has slumped below all moving averages, a sign that bears are in control for now. It has also moved to the lower side of the Bollinger Bands indicator.

If weakness continues, traders may focus on the all-time low near $0.1300 as the next major support level.

However, a recovery above the $0.1800 resistance area would weaken the current bearish structure and improve short-term momentum conditions.