Pi Network (PI) News Today: April 23

Here’s a look at the project’s latest developments, along with what’s expected to come next.

The controversial crypto project has launched numerous features recently, aimed at improving the ecosystem and enhancing the user experience.

The next few weeks are expected to be quite eventful for the entity as the team prepares for another major upgrade and its participation in Consensus 2026. We have yet to see whether these developments can positively impact PI, whose been underperforming lately.

The Latest Updates

The migration to protocol v20.2, which occurred around the symbolic Pi Day (March 14), was considered a huge milestone since it laid the foundation for smart contract capabilities. It also enables developers to build decentralized applications and automate blockchain-based processes.

Earlier in April, the Core Team disclosed that the first smart contract capability is live directly on the project’s Testnet. According to them, this would foster “real, recurring, utility-driven use cases.”

Just recently, Pi Network unveiled PiRC-2, the second Pi Request for Comment, opening the Testnet for subscription smart contract to technical scrutiny and community input. The announcement left Pioneers somewhat divided. Some welcomed the initiative and emphasized its potential benefits, while others argued that more pressing issues (such as the KYC verification) should be addressed before introducing new features.

What’s Next?

The protocol upgrades have been a key focus for the team over the past several months. In February, it rolled out the migration to version 19.6, whereas v19.9 was completed in early March. Later on was the aforementioned upgrade to v20.2, followed by the release of version 21.

Next on the list is the mandatory protocol 22 upgrade, with a deadline of April 27. “This critical update ensures network stability & paves the way for full smart contract functionality, supporting our 18M+ Pioneers,” one community member claimed.

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Besides these updates, Pi Network is expected to gain further popularity due to its participation in the major crypto conference Consensus 2026 in Miami. The event will take place at the beginning of May, with the project serving as one of its partners.

Chengdiao Fan (one of Pi Network’s co-founders) will take the main stage on May 6 and will touch upon trending topics such as AI‑era business models, a globally engaged network that can support utility‑driven products, and, of course, Pi Network’s blockchain infrastructure.

The other co-founder, Nicolas Kokkalis, is scheduled to speak on a panel the following day. The session, titled “How to Prove You’re Human in an AI World (Without Doxing Yourself),” will examine how the Internet’s trust model is eroding as AI systems become capable of generating bots that create profiles and interact convincingly as real users.

PI Price Outlook

The native token of Pi Network has failed to gain momentum following the latest announcements, and we have yet to see whether it will rebound after the upcoming updates.

As of this writing, it trades at roughly $0.17, a 10% decline on a monthly scale and a massive 95% crash from the all-time high of $3 observed more than a year ago. Its market capitalization has slipped to approximately $1.7 billion, making PI the 49th-biggest cryptocurrency.