01 / THE PURPOSE
What is Pi Network for?
Pi aims to support payments and applications around its native asset. Open Network connectivity began in February 2025, but eligibility, identity verification and migration determine which app-account rewards become transferable mainnet balances.
02 / THE ARCHITECTURE
Three questions about the machinery.
How does it agree?
Consensus & securityThe protocol adapts Stellar Consensus Protocol and Federated Byzantine Agreement. Node software runs the agreement process using trust and quorum configurations. Tapping a phone app neither performs Bitcoin-style proof-of-work nor makes that phone a block-validating node.
Where do instructions run?
Execution modelThe native ledger processes signed transactions, while ecosystem applications can integrate payments through wallets. A mobile interface, a reward counter and an on-chain account are different components; an app displaying a balance does not establish that it is already spendable on mainnet.
What is the token for?
PI in the systemPI is the native transfer and transaction-fee asset. The project also uses PI-denominated rewards for eligible contributions and lockup incentives. Those distribution rules should not be confused with proof-of-stake consensus or an issuer’s promise to redeem PI for money.
03 / THE DESIGN CHOICES
What comes with the design?
Each architecture makes choices about security, performance, coordination, and who can participate.
Safety and availability depend on quorum configuration and operator independence, not simply the number of app accounts.
Migration controls, lockups, identity-verification processes and private-key management affect what an individual user can actually transfer.
04 / IN PRACTICE
Follow one use.
Illustrative: a reward shown in the mobile app may await verification or migration. A payment from a mainnet balance instead requires a signed ledger transaction accepted by nodes.
05 / CHECK THE EXPLANATION
Sources & snapshot.
Network descriptions use the references below. The CoinMarketCap snapshot determines which assets are in scope and their captured rank; it does not assess the quality of a network.
- Pi MiCA white paper, version 1.1 PiBit Ltd / Pi Network
- Pi Network white paper Pi Network
- Open Network launch date Pi Network
- CoinMarketCap top 100 snapshot Captured 14 Nov 2026 · See the complete scope audit
- Pi (PI) on CoinMarketCap Captured asset rank #67
Profile checked 14 Nov 2026. Network designs and ranked positions can change.