PayeCoin has survived 7 years and faced a bottleneck! Can three major reforms transform it from a mining app into a financial tool?

Pi Coin has existed for nearly 7 years, but its legitimacy and practicality are still questioned. X users suggest three major reforms: building a DeFi ecosystem (P2P lending, staking, DEX), upgrading consensus mechanisms to support smart contracts and L2 scaling, and increasing user engagement (education, incentives, KYC). Pi Coin has risen 5% in the past 24 hours to $0.19, with the core team launching a no-code payment feature and an advertising deployment mechanism.

The First Major Reform: Transition to a Comprehensive DeFi Financial Tool

In recent months, many industry insiders have proposed various suggestions for the development direction of Pi Coin and its native token. Recently, X users who have opened the mainnet have also joined this chorus, recommending that co-founders Nicolas Kokkalis and the entire team focus on “building a robust DeFi ecosystem.”

Specifically, they believe the project should integrate key features such as P2P lending, staking rewards, and decentralized exchanges into the application. X users believe this will accelerate its real-world applications. This suggestion directly addresses Pi Coin’s current biggest pain point: lack of practicality. Although Pi Coin has a large user base (reportedly over tens of millions of registered users), the token’s actual use cases are extremely limited.

P2P lending will enable Pi users to lend and borrow PI tokens among themselves without relying on traditional financial institutions. This feature is especially valuable in emerging markets where banking services are limited, and many people cannot access formal credit. If Pi can establish a reliable on-chain credit scoring system and collateral mechanisms, P2P lending could become a killer app.

Staking rewards will provide passive income sources for users holding PI tokens. Users can lock tokens for a period to support network security or liquidity pools and earn additional PI tokens as rewards. This mechanism not only incentivizes long-term holding but also reduces circulating supply, supporting the token’s price.

Integration with decentralized exchanges (DEX) will allow PI tokens to be directly exchanged with other cryptocurrencies without relying on centralized exchanges. Currently, Pi is only listed on a few exchanges with limited liquidity; DEX integration will greatly improve this situation. Additionally, X users believe that collaborating with well-known DeFi protocols like Aave or Uniswap will enable users to earn interest on PI tokens through mining and conduct seamless trading.

The Second Major Reform: Upgrading Technical Architecture to Support Smart Contracts and L2 Scaling

X users also assert that upgrading the Stellar-based consensus mechanism to support smart contracts and implementing L2 scaling solutions are crucial. This is one of the biggest technical challenges Pi faces. Currently based on the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), which is an efficient Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus mechanism, Pi’s support for smart contracts is far less mature than platforms like Ethereum.

Smart contracts are fundamental for implementing complex application logic on the blockchain. Without smart contract support, Pi cannot realize the aforementioned DeFi functions nor attract developers to build applications on its platform. If Pi can upgrade its consensus mechanism to natively support smart contracts or adopt an EVM-compatible layer, its application potential will be greatly expanded.

Layer 2 scaling solutions are vital for improving Pi’s transaction processing capacity. Even though Pi’s current transaction volume is low, addressing scalability issues early is necessary for large-scale applications. L2 solutions like Optimistic Rollups or ZK-Rollups can increase transaction capacity by dozens or hundreds of times while maintaining main chain security, significantly reducing transaction fees.

Technical upgrades are not only about functionality but also about establishing a developer ecosystem. Currently, Pi’s developer community is relatively weak, mainly because the tech stack is not user-friendly and lacks mature development tools. Providing an Ethereum-compatible smart contract environment could attract many Ethereum developers to migrate or deploy multi-chain dApps on Pi’s network.

The Third Major Reform: Enhancing User Engagement and Building Compliance

X users believe: “Through educational tutorials and incentive measures, user participation can be increased, especially in emerging markets where financial inclusion is critical. Additionally, prioritizing audits and introducing KYC options will help build trust and ensure compliance.” This suggestion directly addresses two other major issues of Pi: insufficient user education and regulatory concerns.

Despite Pi’s large user base, most users have limited understanding of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Many see Pi merely as a “mobile mining game” rather than truly understanding its potential as digital currency. Educational tutorials and incentives can improve this situation, helping users learn how to use wallets, conduct transactions, and participate in DeFi.

Emerging markets represent Pi’s greatest opportunity. In these regions, traditional financial services are lacking, but smartphone penetration is rapidly increasing. If Pi can offer simple, user-friendly financial services (such as cross-border remittances, microloans, savings, and wealth management) combined with localized educational content, it could achieve genuine financial inclusion.

Building compliance is crucial for Pi’s long-term development. One of the biggest doubts currently is its legality and regulatory status. Prioritizing smart contract audits, introducing KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) mechanisms will help build trust and ensure compliance. Although this may sacrifice some decentralization and anonymity, it is a necessary compromise for projects seeking mainstream adoption.

X users conclude that all these developments could transform Pi Network from a mining app into “a comprehensive financial tool,” attracting more developers to join the ecosystem. Although this vision is ambitious, the path to realization is clear: DeFi features providing practical value, technical upgrades supporting application development, and user education and compliance ensuring sustainable growth.

Pi Coin Price and Latest Ecosystem Updates

Pi Network’s native token experienced a significant decline over the past few months but has shown a notable rebound in the last 24 hours, ranking among the best-performing cryptocurrencies in the same period (top 100). Currently, its trading price is slightly below $0.19, up 5% today.

This growth may be attributed to the latest updates from the core team. Just a few hours ago, they launched a convenient Pi payment feature integrated directly into Pi App Studio, allowing even non-technical users to use it easily, as it requires no coding or technical knowledge. Note that this feature is currently limited to Test-Pi.

Additionally, the team introduced a new feature enabling Pioneers to deploy application iterations by watching ads, without paying any Pi. The target users are new ecosystem participants and users who do not want to spend Pi tokens to create applications.

Finally, the core team encourages all pioneers to share feedback through a short survey and focus on recommending their favorite applications. The first 1,000 eligible participants will receive 5 Pi tokens as points, which can be used within Pi App Studio. These updates demonstrate that the Pi team is actively working to improve user experience and developer friendliness within the ecosystem.