Happy first anniversary of Open Network, Pioneers! Open Network, which launched on February 20, 2025, was a pivotal point in Pi’s history, connecting Pi’s blockchain, identity-verified community, and Web3 ecosystem with the external world.
Prior to Open Network, the Pi community collectively built out the ecosystem over six years to ensure Pi’s readiness and sustainable utility. This developmental period allowed Pi to create real apps and utilities for Pioneers to engage with, and verify the identities of millions of Pioneers to prepare the network for real world assets and production processes.
From the start, Pi was designed to be freely accessible, allowing anyone to mine without technical or financial barriers. That design not only permitted wide distribution and inclusivity, but it also enabled the network and all participants to afford the patience to engage in the difficult work necessary to establish a fully functional ecosystem predicated on utility.
Since then, the network continues to make progress in line with Pi’s long term vision and strategy—to create an inclusive, utility-driven, and widely adopted cryptocurrency that is broadly accessible. Progress in the first year of Open Network includes advances in Pi’s ecosystem activity, app development initiatives and tools, and innovative product and platform-level utility releases. A few highlights include the Pi App Studio, Pi Network Ventures, DEX/AMM/token creation features, and more. Pioneers can revisit the First 100 Days of Open Network and the 2025 Year-End updates blogs for deeper context on these developments.
To celebrate this milestone, Pi Founders Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan answered a series of questions to offer Pioneers more insight into Pi’s strategy, approach, and current work since Open Network—while also providing greater visibility into the direction and priorities guiding Pi’s continued development. Watch the full video below, which explores these topics in depth! This blog provides a high level overview and shares ways Pioneers can take part in the celebration.
The Pi Founders specifically address these questions, and Pioneers are encouraged to watch the video in full to learn more:
- Why does Pi feel so different from other blockchains? Why does utility matter?
- What is the network working on now?
- What are Pi ecosystem tokens and what is the design thinking for ecosystem tokens on Mainnet?
- What is the significance of Pi KYC, and what’s next?
- Why is Pi focusing on AI? What does AI have to do with blockchain?
Pioneers can read the full transcript of the video here.
A Look Into The Next Year
Pi’s approach—the focus on utility, mass adoption, verified-identity, and user experience—reflects a distinct model for widespread, mainstream success and differentiates Pi from the broader blockchain industry.
In the year to come, Pi will focus on expanding app and utility creation opportunities while strengthening the tools that support innovation across the ecosystem, in addition to speeding up processes that matter to Pioneers such as KYC and Mainnet migration. Efforts will include aligning Web3 tools with overall product innovations, addressing crypto challenges such as digital identity, facilitating interoperability, and improving the overall experience for developers, businesses, and Pioneers.
By making it easier to build, participate, and create, Pi continues to evolve its accessible and utility-driven ecosystem.
In this blog, Pi will highlight two of many initiatives Pi is working on to enhance the network. Pioneers are again encouraged to watch the full video addressing these topics in further detail.
Ecosystem Token Design on Mainnet
Pi ecosystem tokens are community-created tokens issued on Pi that are designed to support real utility and product innovation. Pi emphasizes that the network design for ecosystem tokens—how ecosystem tokens are integrated into the Pi ecosystem and used to support real products and services—is the most critical factor when enabling ecosystem token creation on Mainnet.
Across the broader crypto space, a core issue is the misalignment between token issuance and real innovation. Despite tokens being a powerful feature in Web3, most tokens on other crypto networks function primarily as tools to raise capital—but such projects frequently fail to provide meaningful utility and useful products. This misalignment between token issuance and product creation is a structural problem in Web3.
Pi is uniquely positioned to provide a different path because of the collective resources the network has, e.g. a large community with real users for real products. Pi’s approach is to integrate crypto tokens directly into the evolutionary process for products and innovations. To this end, Pi’s current launch programs encourage a new design construct based on Pi’s existing resources and infrastructure: utility tokens designed for user acquisition. This means projects issue tokens to fulfill the need to acquire users for their products (not to raise capital) and integrate these tokens for use cases inside their products. Users hold projects accountable for the products they provide, provide feedback for product iterations for improvement, and have meritocratic and transparent access to acquire the utility token issued by the project. Pi is staked and used in these mechanisms to orchestrate and facilitate the process.
Watch the video (or read the video script) where the Pi Founders provided an overview on the design thinking behind ecosystem tokens on Pi.
Key differentiating features of this new construct include:
- All proceeds committed in Pi to acquire the tokens by participants are not transferred to the project that issues the token, unlike the typical token issuance model. Rather, all proceeds will be irreversibly deposited into the Liquidity Pool, which supports the stability and health of a token.
- Projects issuing tokens through this new launch construct need to have a working product in place, in the form of a functional app, as a prerequisite to issue a token through this program.
- The engagement with the project’s product by the participant may give certain favorable terms or benefits to the participant during a launch.
Review Ecosystem Token Design Proposal in Detail and Leave Feedback
Pi is releasing specific details on the Ecosystem Token Design on Pi Network as a Pi Request for Comment (PRC) to the community. Given the importance of the ecosystem token layer of the Pi ecosystem and the innovative approach and design, such design should be evaluated with input from the community and iterated in practice to improve. Keep in mind the design intentionally differs from existing models to address issues explained previously, and the design is meant to align tokens as a powerful feature of Web3 with the creation of the real-world products and innovations, drawing on the existing strength and resources of Pi Network.
Pioneers can read the full details of the ecosystem token design on GitHub. Feedback is welcome, and Pioneers are encouraged to comment, discuss with other community members and share specific suggestions on specific sections of the design using GitHub features like issues or pull requests. For those who do not have a GitHub account, a Google Form will also be available to submit high-level feedback.
Pi will review and consider community input from GitHub and high-level feedback submitted through the Google Form. As with any design process, not all suggestions will be adopted, but feedback will be evaluated to determine whether and what adjustments are appropriate. The construct design is also subject to further revisions based on feedback from the projects that want to participate in the launch program.
Expanding the Utility of Pi KYC
Pi KYC is foundational to the integrity and authenticity of the network. More broadly, Pi views identity verification as a critical unsolved challenge in Web3 and a necessary step before mass real-world productions move on-chain.
But beyond Pi Network’s internal use, the next stage of this initiative is treating KYC itself as a service—KYC as a platform capability. Identity is fundamental to any meaningful integration with the real-world economy. Any transfers of value and ownership require knowing who is transferring and who is receiving. This is a fundamental identity—and therefore KYC—problem.
In the near term, Pi will offer the technology and product of Pi KYC solution (without sharing any user data) as a service to Web3 and traditional businesses. Pi’s distinct approach to KYC offers third-parties unique benefits:
- Global geographic coverage
- Scalability
- Hybrid model combining AI and human validation workflows
- Sanction checks for compliance
- Cross-network comparisons
- Support for different regulatory formats
Looking longer term, Pi’s identity-verified network itself, being a powerful network-level collective resource, is designed to enable services and use cases to build and integrate on top. Users retain control over their own identity and data, but they also gain the option to participate in applications built on top of an identity-verified network. That network, in turn, provides utility to external services that need identity-verified human participation.
This matters well beyond Pi. Solving KYC is a prerequisite for many major challenges in Web3, including real-world assets. More broadly, in an AI-driven world filled with bots and agents that can increasingly mimic human behavior, the ability to answer a simple but critical question—who is real—becomes essential.
Infographic on Growth Since Open Network
Since the launch of Open Network, Pi has continued expanding across multiple dimensions of the ecosystem—from Mainnet migrations and developer activity to application growth and overall network participation. These milestones reflect the steady progress made possible through the collective contributions of Pioneers, developers, businesses, and KYC validators around the world.
The following infographic highlights key ecosystem growth metrics achieved during the past year since Open Network launched.
Celebrating Pioneers with Pi Badges and Raffle!
To celebrate the global Pioneer community’s collective work to build and support the network, Pi will introduce a community-focused initiative designed to recognize Pioneer contributions and encourage participation across the ecosystem leading up to Pi Day. This initiative features commemorative in-app badges that eligible Pioneers can showcase on social media and within various Pi apps and a community raffle.
More details on how to participate—including eligibility, timelines, and further information—will be shared in a dedicated announcement in the coming week. Pioneers are encouraged to stay tuned and prepare to join the celebration.
What This Anniversary Represents
Pi’s first Open Network anniversary is a reflection of the contributions of Pioneers around the world. From creating apps and enhancing infrastructure to validating identities, participating in ecosystem activities, and supporting community growth, Pioneer participation has been essential in shaping Pi into what it is today.
Pi has always been a collective effort. The ecosystem’s continued progress will remain driven by the collaboration between developers, businesses, and Pioneers working together to create meaningful utility and real-world adoption—a path that was not taken by others.
Thank you to every Pioneer who has contributed to this unique journey and continues to help shape what comes next.
