The Pi DEX and AMM liquidity pool features have been updated to improve usability and clarity. These blockchain features were initially launched on the Pi Testnet for testing purposes, and to allow developers and Pioneers a safe environment to try out the mechanics of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) on Pi.
Based on initial usage, testing, and user feedback, the following changes have been implemented with the design goals of aligning tokens on Pi with real utility creation, increasing the practical use of Pi, and making the DEX and AMM experience more user-friendly and transparent.
Updates include improvements to the user interface, more effective liquidity organization through Pi-denominated pairs, additional indicators to help individuals assess token trustworthiness, and a liquidity-based token ranking system.
Improved Organization and User Interface
The organization and interface updates of the DEX and AMM features improve the overall user experience. This makes it easier for Pioneers to navigate the interface and understand how to use the features, as users continue to test these DeFi features.
By improving usability and reducing friction, these design updates better support the underlying purpose of the DEX and AMM on Testnet: onboarding Pioneers to decentralized finance tools and features, improving Pioneers’ financial literacy, and enabling Pioneers and developers to safely experiment with decentralized exchange and liquidity mechanisms in a practical, hands-on way using Test-Pi.
Watch the new video walkthrough to see the updated interface and learn how these DeFi tools work.
Pi-Centric Pairing and Improved Liquidity Organization
Liquidity on the Pi Testnet DEX is now organized around Pi-denominated pairs, with Pi serving as the common base for trading across the DEX. As a Pi-centric DEX, selecting Pi, the most liquid asset, as a base mirrors best practices seen across ecosystems.
By concentrating liquidity around Pi as a common base, existing liquidity is organized into fewer, more active pools rather than being fragmented across many thin pools. This does not create new liquidity, but it makes available liquidity more effective for trading as participation and trading volume increase.
For example, if token A and token B each have a Pi-denominated trading pair, the price of both A and B can be determined in relation to the price of Pi. This is simpler, clearer, and more user friendly as the number of tokens grows, and allows for the easy, direct pairing of token A and token B with prices derivable in Pi.
In practice, this approach of organizing liquidity around high-signal pairs can lead to several potential benefits for users:
- Lower price volatility of DEX tokens, since individual trades tend to have less impact on prices
- Reduced slippage, resulting in more predictable trade outcomes
- Greater resistance to manipulation, by increasing the cost required to move markets
- More reliable price discovery, especially as trading activity increases
These revisions were made after observing how Pioneers interact with liquidity pools on Testnet, and they are being deployed as an experiment. As with other Testnet features, this approach is subject to change and iterations as usage continues to be evaluated.
Domain Verification as a Trust Indicator for Pioneers
Domain verification has been introduced to provide an additional indicator that helps Pioneers assess the trustworthiness of tokens. Token issuers can now associate their tokens with verified domain names, allowing Pioneers to see whether a token is actually issued by the same party that controls a domain.
Previously, a token was only associated with a specific blockchain address, which makes it difficult for most Pioneers to interpret or evaluate.
Now, every token in the DEX and AMM interface must be linked to a verified domain, and the domain can link back to the token. This makes it easier for Pioneers to verify whether a token issuer claiming to represent a business, project, or service is actually associated with the owner of the corresponding domain.
Note that this does not ensure that a token is trustworthy or safe—it surfaces additional information in the interface to help Pioneers make their own assessments. The responsibility for deciding what to trust remains with the Pioneer, while the platform focuses on presenting clearer and more accessible signals that can help identify potential misrepresentation or fraudulent claims.
Liquidity-Based Token Rankings
Pi is testing a token ranking system in the DEX interface that ranks tokens by liquidity, rather than ranking by market capitalization (“Market Cap”). We believe this is a more informative metric and ranking system in the current ecosystem setting.
Ranking based on Market Cap can be vulnerable to manipulation through supply and pricing strategies. For example, a developer could retain 99% of a token’s total supply, release only 1% into circulation, and artificially drive up the price of the token through engineered scarcity. The artificially increased price would inflate both the Market Cap and Fully Diluted Market Cap—since Market Cap is calculated as Token Price x Circulating Supply and Fully Diluted Market Cap is calculated as Token Price x Max Supply—making the project appear far more valuable than it truly is.
Liquidity-based ranking addresses this issue by reflecting how much liquidity is actively committed to a token’s pool, measured in this case by Test-Pi. This approach emphasizes real capital commitment: a token can only rise in ranking by attracting additional liquidity, rather than inflating price through manipulation. While liquidity manipulation is still possible, it requires committing a substantial amount of Test-Pi, making it significantly more difficult and costly. Rankings also update automatically as liquidity changes.
This ranking system is currently being tested and may evolve as more feedback and data becomes available.
These updates provide a revamp of the DEX and AMM experience to better onboard and educate Pioneers about DeFi, while serving as another iteration for better achieving their intended goals.
Holiday Commerce Event
This holiday season, Pi Network is spotlighting ecosystem commerce through a community shopping initiative that allows Pi commerce merchants to promote their businesses through Pi Network and encourages Pioneers to shop with Pi both online and in person. The event highlights Mainnet commerce apps and local Pi-accepting merchants, inviting them to run their own holiday-themed promotions on the Pi platform while giving Pioneers a simple way to discover, shop, and share their experiences across the ecosystem. Pi facilitates visibility and coordination, creating a seasonal moment that supports real commerce, small businesses, and active participation throughout the Pi ecosystem.
Learn more here!
