Pi Network’s First Year on Open Mainnet: What Actually Happened

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A Look Into The Next Year

Minepi.com reports that year two of Pi Network’s open mainnet focuses on enabling wider external connectivity for an ecosystem already surpassing 47 million users by May 2026. The Pi Core Team is aiming to integrate interoperability and refine the user experience.

Since the launch of Open Network, Pi has continued expanding across multiple dimensions of the ecosystem—from KYC and Mainnet migrations to developer activity and overall network participation. These milestones reflect the steady progress made possible through the collective… pic.twitter.com/rdYM0xFDlM

— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) February 24, 2026

Cryptotimes.io highlights that at least five major ecosystem projects—including PiBridge, PiPay, and PiChainMall—are targeting public launches over the next 12 months.

Recruitment of validator node operators is forecast to continue, with a target of 30,000 nodes in year two, according to minepi.com.

Infographic on Growth Since Open Network

Minepi.com documents Pi Network’s user count rose from around 40 million at the open mainnet debut in June 2025 to more than 47 million by May 2026—a 17.5% leap. Aggressive mobile miner outreach and KYC onboarding spurred this momentum. The network’s migration incentives worked. Cryptotimes.io notes the PI token posted an 87% price rally in March 2026, driven by v19.6 protocol upgrades and mounting mainnet activity.

🆘📢🆘 Pi Network just celebrated 1 year of Open Network (Feb 20, 2025–2026) with major progress: over 16.2 million migrations to Mainnet, 17.7 million users KYC completed, 300+ Mainnet apps, and a booming local commerce ecosystem. The team introduced PiRC1 — a new… pic.twitter.com/AxqGCYuLCs

— Jack PiNetwork⚡️π 🚀 (@JackPiNetwork) February 25, 2026

Records from minepi.com show the registered dApp developer community grew from fewer than 7,000 midway through 2025 to more than 18,000 by May 2026, an increase above 150%. Developers seek real users—and 47 million is a solid hook.

More than 3.1 million KYC verifications occurred between June 2025 and May 2026, per Coinswitch.co. This identity requirement proved vital for enabling wallet withdrawals and legal exchange preparation. KYC pass rates improved from 71% to 82% as guides and local support materialized, making regulatory onboarding smoother.

Pi’s branded raffles and badge campaigns celebrating the growth surge led to measurable sign-up increases. Network analytics recorded a 24% rise in daily active sessions for two weeks after the May 2026 anniversary, with verified user wallet spinups up nearly 14% week-on-week.

Pilots for on-chain protocol voting debuted at the one-year mark, with 250,000 users participating in the first governance round, according to minepi.com.

Pioneers Recognition and Community Events

Minepi.com records Pi Network hosting its first “Open Mainnet Anniversary Event” in May 2026, awarding digital badges to hundreds of thousands of users recognized for early mining, evangelism, or code contributions.

The platform’s anniversary campaign also organized a worldwide raffle with over 1.9 million entries.

Figures from minepi.com show more than 4.2 million blockchain transactions occurred during the anniversary period.

Cryptotimes.io reports the anniversary also brought Pi’s first treasury-funded retroactive rewards program, distributing 5 million PI in staggered increments to users hitting various engagement benchmarks throughout the year.

What This Anniversary Represents

Mainnet Launch Date: Key Milestones

1. March 2025: Final enclosed mainnet feature freeze launched accelerated KYC onboarding and migration urgency.
2. April 2025: v19.5 protocol upgrades went live for closed testing, preparing for an open configuration.
3. May 2025: First batch of KYC-verified wallets moved to the mainnet staging arena.
4. June 28, 2025: Open mainnet activated as 42 million PI minted and over 40 million wallets migrated.
5. July 2025: Restrictions lifted for KYC-approved wallet-to-wallet transfers, spurring transactional activity.
6. November 2025: v19.6 protocol upgrade announced, marking the start of staged deployment across the protocol.
7. March 2026: All network nodes completed v19.6 upgrades, unlocking new block logic and dApp APIs.

With every phase, Pi Network layered compliance, bolstered security, and hit technical milestones to mitigate risk and maximize adoption.

Pi Network Mainnet Launch: The Complete Timeline

The Pi development team migrated up to 42 million wallets by July 2025, executing validated snapshot updates with precision. By September 2025, new wallet onboarding topped 850,000, while average daily blockchain transaction volume topped 480,000. As minepi.com summarizes, validator participation rose from 9,500 in July 2025 to over 23,000 by April 2026—a clear decentralization milestone.

The March 2026 v19.6 protocol upgrade, according to cryptotimes.io, cut block confirmation times from 54 seconds to 19 seconds per block. It activated new API endpoints for external apps and delivered a wallet security overhaul. NFT minting support opened fresh developer opportunities. Upgrade completion matched the 87% PI price rally and record engagement during the anniversary period.

The v19.6 upgrade delivered a 68% reduction in known attack surfaces following external penetration testing. The improved modularity enabled launch of at least 18 third-party dApps between March and May 2026, a record for Pi Network over any two-month period.

When Is Pi Launching – Hasn’t It Already Launched?

Minepi.com clarifies that Pi Network’s open mainnet began June 28, 2025, yet debate still surrounds what “fully launched” means in practice. While KYC-verified users have direct wallet access and can transfer PI wallet-to-wallet, open exchange listing and broad liquidity are still pending additional security and legal review—pushed to late 2026 or after.

User sentiment has shifted as the protocol matured, according to minepi.com.

No centralized or decentralized exchange with a published regulatory license lists PI trading pairs as of May 2026.

Infographic: Growth Timeline and Key Data

Looking Ahead and User Takeaways

• Decentralization:Validator pool size jumped from 9,500 to over 23,000 in a year, per minepi.com. That means more security and consensus diversity. Node growth signals trust.
• dApps and Ecosystem Growth:Over 413 decentralized applications approved, with PiChainMall booking over 160,000 purchases since mainnet launch (minepi.com and coinswitch.co). Each use case increases network stickiness.
• Compliance and KYC:3.1 million KYC verifications with an 82% pass rate by May 2026 , bolstering the platform’s legal posture and risk controls.
• Community Incentives:Thousands have earned digital badges, raffle prizes, and ambassador roles for development, coding, protocol, and advocacy efforts at primary milestones.
• Migration and Security:Complete network migration finished in 2025 with no major technical outages, showing the team’s risk-averse approach Zipmex.com). Stability builds confidence.
• Governance:First on-chain protocol voting pilots launched May 2026, with 250,000 users voting on central proposals—a foundation for future decentralized decision making .
• Security and Reliability:External penetration tests post-v19.6 upgrade reduced attack surface by 68%, per zipmex.com. That means safer new dApps for all users.

Year two will bring more dApps, the first cross-chain initiatives, and streamlined fiat ramps. Whether Pi Network becomes a core web3 layer or remains a mostly social crypto now depends on deep user adoption and robust compliance.

Read more about Pi Network and its ongoing protocol changes at ST News.