NEWS FROM THE MAIN PAGE of the Pi Application
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Enacting the KYC and Mainnet migration Grace period: A strategic step towards Open Network
To make these important deadlines salient and clear, in the near future we will be rolling out new app interfaces including initially a countdown timer on the Mainnet Checklist and later a new banner on the home screen, pop ups, etc. These interface updates will help inform and remind Pioneers of their respective deadlines, whether to submit KYC or to complete Mainnet migration, and urge them to take actions as soon as possible. These Grace Period interface features will be iterated and improved upon over time, e.g. refining pauses on timer for stuck cases and providing urgency levels. For Pioneers who have completed the Mainnet Checklist and are fully migrated, they will not see the timer in their app, because the Grace Period requirements and deadlines no longer apply to them.
Overall, the Grace Period is intended to strike a balance between providing Pioneers adequate time to pass KYC and migrate, while creating enough incentive and urgency for people to pass KYC and migrate to Open Network. The enactment of this policy will serve to accelerate our progress toward Open Network and its required pre-conditions, as well as help Pioneers get more of their Referral and Security Circle bonuses transferable to Mainnet, as a result of more members of their Referral Team and Security Circle getting KYC’ed and migrated. It will also prevent unverified Pi beyond the rolling 6-month KYC period from migrating to the Mainnet, and avoid creating too much uncertainty for the Open Network and network planning that is unfavorable to the network and all Pioneers. Instead, such Pi will get freed up for mining by other KYC’ed Pioneers in the future.
What happens in the Grace Period?
The Grace Period is a 6-month period, during which Pioneers must take actions to complete KYC and migrate to Open Network. They must do this in order to keep all of their Pi that they mined. If Pioneers fail to submit their initial KYC application within the first 3 months, or fail to finish all necessary steps to migrate their Pi within 6 months starting July 1st, 2024 (except for specific system blocks that pauses their countdown timer), they will forfeit most of their past Pi balance other than the Pi mined within the last 6 months before their Pi is migrated—this is the 6-month rolling window. Being stuck in KYC or Mainnet migrations due to specific system reasons will not count against a Pioneer’s 6 months.
Specifically, to avoid losing most of Pi mined, Pioneers should make sure they complete the two action steps within their respective deadlines:
- Submit their initial KYC application within the first 3 months of the Grace Period, which means the deadline will be September 30, 2024, and
- Complete the Mainnet Checklist to migrate to the Mainnet within 6 months, which means the deadline will be December 31, 2024.
Everyone who hasn’t migrated to the Mainnet yet will have an individual Grace Period timer. This timer will continue to count down as long as this process is pending a user action, and will pause in the event that an individual is blocked by the system in these following specific steps: being ineligible to apply to KYC, being stuck in the KYC process more than one month, having a tentative KYC status, and delays by the system from Mainnet migration.
Whenever there is a pending action in the process for the Pioneer to take—be it resubmission, liveness check, correction of information, any Checklist items, etc.—the countdown timer will resume. Assuming that the Pioneer has X remaining months on the timer when it resumes from a pause, the Pioneer will have X or 1 month time, whichever is longer, to complete the remaining steps of KYC and migration.
Pioneers who completed the above two steps within their respective deadlines will secure and keep the Pi balance they mined. Pioneers who miss either of the Grace Period deadlines will only keep the Pi they mined in the last 6 months before their Pi is migrated for the first time. The 6-month rolling window during which their Pi was previously mined and can be kept refers to the last 6 months before their first migration to the Mainnet.
Note: For Pioneers who have never submitted a KYC application before, their first deadline is 3 months (NOT 6 months) before which they have to submit the KYC application after becoming eligible. The purpose of this is to leave enough time to complete the rest of the steps to get their KYC processed and their Pi migrated within 6 months. The initial 3-month deadline for the applicable Pioneers will also be visible in their timer and interface features.
Grace Period examples for various Pioneer scenarios
Below are some scenarios to help demonstrate these deadlines and requirements based on specific Pioneers’ circumstances:
- The Grace Period for a Pioneer, that is currently eligible for KYC, begins on July 1, 2024. They need to submit their first KYC application by September 30, 2024 and will need to migrate to Mainnet before December 31, 2024.
- For Pioneers who are not eligible to submit their KYC application, their timer is paused and will resume once they become eligible.
- For Pioneers who currently have a Tentative KYC status, their 6-month timer is paused and will resume once the block is resolved.
- For Pioneers whose KYC applications are stuck in the KYC process for more than 1 month, their 6-month timer is also paused and will resume once the block is resolved. However, such pauses will be further refined in the future. The timer will only be paused for delays by system reasons. If there is a KYC user-action pending, e.g. resubmission or additional liveness checks, the timer will not be paused. Pioneers should take such required actions as soon as possible within the timer countdown.
- For new Pioneers, the Grace Period will be paused until they complete thirty (30) mining sessions (“Minimum Mining Period”) and become eligible to apply for KYC. Then, the two deadlines of the Grace Period follow accordingly afterwards. This also applies to new Pioneers who join after the end of 2024.
- If a Pioneer takes the pending user-action in the KYC process less than 1 month before the deadline, the timer will automatically top up to 1 month, to allow time for processing and finishing the next steps in KYC and Mainnet migration.
There may be additional exceptions or pauses on the timer in the future if new major system delays emerge. We will consider them and decide as we encounter them.
What does this mean for network growth?
The Grace Period will not affect new members to join the network or mine for free as usual, but it will require new Pioneers to complete KYC and migrate within the Grace Period following the same rules after they join. Not only will this not impact the growth of the network, but also it will ensure and improve the quality of the network, and make sure more people joining are real humans, KYC’ed and on the Mainnet, fully ready to participate in and contribute to the Pi Mainnet ecosystem.
The Path Forward
As we approach the launch of Open Network, the KYC and Mainnet migration Grace Period is a pivotal measure to prepare our community for a seamless transition. This period not only ensures readiness among Pioneers, but also upholds the integrity of Pi by aligning with the core principles set forth in our Whitepaper.
The coming months are crucial; they are not just a countdown but a call to action for all Pioneers to solidify their roles in Pi’s future. Let’s embrace this opportunity to strengthen our community and ensure that each Pioneer can participate fully in the Mainnet Pi ecosystem.
Network announcement: Pi’s Open Network plan
We are pleased to announce that we intend to go to the Open Network period of Mainnet in the year of 2024, if the following three conditions are met!
There is no specific date set. These three essential conditions depend on the collective efforts of Pioneers, community developers, and the Core Team, in addition to uncontrollable external factors.
Such conditions are based on Pi Network’s long-term objectives and strategies, and take into consideration the feasibility of their accomplishments within the year of 2024.
Conditions for having Open Network in 2024
Condition 1: Finish any Open Network preparation work in technology, product, business and legal following the consistent strategies of Pi Network.
Condition 2: Achieve the following goals in network KYC, migration and utility creation.
This condition is consistent with the Enclosed Network objectives from the updated Roadmap chapter of the Pi Whitepaper published in December 2021, such as reaching critical mass of KYC identity-verified Pioneers on the Mainnet blockchain and having diverse utilities of the Pi cryptocurrency in the Pi ecosystem. These objectives are paramount to the success of the Open Network and ecosystem in line with Pi’s vision to build the world’s most inclusive peer-to-peer ecosystem and online experience, fueled by Pi. The targeted milestones below help specify what these Enclosed Network goals mean in concrete terms (per our community’s request), while considering the feasibility for the community to achieve them within the year of 2024.
The specific targets for meeting this Open Network condition are as follows:
KYC and Migration
- 15 million Pioneers have passed KYC including fully and tentatively KYC’ed; and
- 10 million Pioneers have migrated to the Mainnet.
Utility
- 100 real Pi apps that (1) are on the Mainnet or are Mainnet-ready, (2) comply with the Pi platform policies, (3) solve a true need and bring utility to the Pi ecosystem, and (4) are a distinct application (i.e., not simply an unmodified clone of the demo app or another Pi app).
As reference, the current data about the above variables are 8 million KYC’ed Pioneers including fully and tentatively KYC’ed, 3.9 million migrated, and about 40 real Pi apps that we preliminarily deemed as meeting the standards above, although there are many more Pi apps on the Testnet or fulfilling a subset of the standards above which can be improved to qualify during the year.
This condition will be primarily driven by the decentralized efforts of the community with the Core Team’s support. While the Core Team will continue to provide technical and product support, to meet the KYC and migration goals will require the community to mobilize itself through decentralized efforts to have more Pioneers join, re-engage, apply, validate and pass in the KYC process, and complete their Mainnet Checklist to migrate. The utility goals rely on community developers to build and launch Pi apps following the Pi policies with the technical, product, design, program and mentorship support of the Core team.
Condition 3: The absence of an unfavorable external environment which would hinder the success of Open Network.
In short, world events affect currencies, and Pi is no different. While we do not control what happens in the world, we do control our launch and will not jeopardize the community’s hard work and dedication with a reckless move to Open Network.
The timing of Open Network will need to incorporate these global factors that are beyond the control of the Core Team or the Pioneer community. These factors include macroeconomic crises, unfavorable legal or regulatory developments, industry uncertainties, pandemics, wars, or any number of unpredictable, uncontrollable, and/or unforeseeable external factors inhospitable to the launch of Open Network.
These three conditions will help determine the timing of the Open Network. We hope the network can achieve them in the year of 2024, with our decentralized efforts and with the absence of unfavorable uncontrollable external factors. If such conditions are not met, then Open Network may be delayed to ensure a more successful transition for all Pioneers. All in all, the decision on Open Network’s launch and its timing will be made to best serve Pi’s vision, the community and the network.
We know that this announcement will be met with jubilation and excitement within the Pi community, and we hope that each Pioneer takes it upon themselves to help achieve the above goals.
We wish that all Pioneers enjoy a wonderful end of the year holiday season, and use this information to truly engage with Pi and our community to work towards the Open Network in 2024!
Below are some important Q&As for this announcement.
Is there a guarantee that Open Network will happen in 2024?
No, there is no such guarantee. However, this announcement shares the true plan and the process that the Core Team has for the Open Network move. It also sheds light on more specific conditions and milestones for us to achieve Open Network, and who and what are the primary drivers behind these conditions and milestones. Clear distribution of responsibility guides productive execution. As explained above, it depends on the collective efforts of the Core Team, community developers, and Pioneers to push us through. Even if the Core Team and Pioneers were to fulfill two of the conditions, the uncontrollable and unpredictable environmental factors (i.e., the third condition) can still possibly force the network to stay in the Enclosed Network period and continue to build, adjusting to the new global realities.
How can the Pioneer community contribute to our progress towards Open Network?
The Open Network move in 2024 depends on YOU, especially goals listed in Condition 2. Pioneer contributions are critical to both KYC/Mainnet Migration and utilities goals. For KYC, you can (1) first complete your KYC application and Mainnet Checklist, (2) validate available KYC applications after you pass your KYC, and (3) invite your Security Circle, Referral Team, as well as your colleagues, friends, and family or anyone to complete their KYC applications and finish the Mainnet Checklist.
Why are the KYC and migration goals achievable by and primarily dependent on the community?
The overarching crucial fact is that almost all Pioneers are eligible to apply for KYC and the majority of all applications can pass KYC within a short amount of time. So with a growing community of over 47 million members, these targets of 15 million KYC passed and 10 million migrated should be achievable. While the Core Team’s support work for Condition 2 will continue to focus on resolving the corner-case applications that are stuck in the KYC process, we need to recognize a network-level fact that the long tail of corner cases will not be the biggest driver in achieving the target numbers of KYC and migration. These KYC and Mainnet migration milestones in Condition 2 will primarily rely on the community to mobilize itself through decentralized efforts to have more Pioneers join, apply, validate and pass in the KYC process and complete the Mainnet checklist to migrate.
What is the purpose of KYC and why is there a delay for some accounts?
As communicated in the 2021 December Whitepaper and many KYC announcements (such as 1, 2, 3), the purpose of the KYC is to ensure the integrity of the network by preventing fake accounts, policy violators and bad actors from going through while allowing honest miners to pass, and to comply with laws such as anti-money laundering regulations by preventing sanctioned accounts from passing. In making such determination of accounts, there will be additional scrutiny and checks on a small minority of applications that will inevitably increase their processing time to ensure fair and accurate results as much as possible. Such accounts that need extra checks are not necessarily fake accounts, policy violators or bad actors, but the determination of such may be more difficult than usual and thus take extra time. Resolving the corner cases in KYC applications to allow honest Pioneers to pass and migrate will be a major focus of the Core Team in 2024. This will include providing information and next steps for stuck applications to take and informing applicants of any rejections.
What types of Pi Apps do not count as “real” apps for the utility goals in Condition 2?
Apps that are simply replicas or instantiations of other Pi apps without a meaningful distinction, violate the Pi policies, do not intend to really engage users, or do not bring utility to the Pi ecosystem are not counted toward the utility goal of 100 real Pi apps. The criteria for what counts as a real Pi app will be further calibrated throughout the year.
What is Open Network?
On December 28, 2021, Pi Network launched its Mainnet blockchain in an enclosed state, meaning that the Mainnet is live but with a firewall that prevents any unwanted external connectivity. Moving to Open Network means that the firewall will be removed, allowing for any external connectivity, e.g., to other networks, wallets, and anyone who wants to connect to the Pi Mainnet blockchain. API calls will not be firewalled, and Pioneers will be able to run their own Mainnet Pi Nodes and API services. Read the updated Roadmap chapter of the 2021 December Whitepaper to learn more.
How can we know the progress toward the Open Network goal in 2024?
In 2024, the Core Team will continuously provide updates on the network’s progress under Conditions 1 and 2 through the Roadmap itself and/or announcements. This way, Pioneers as well as the Core Team can check on our collective progress, assess where the gaps lie, and focus our efforts accordingly to accomplish our collective goal of Open Network transition in the year 2024.
Pi Network KYC FAQs
KYC or “Know Your Customer” is a procedure to first identify and then verify user identities. Pi Network utilizes a proprietary KYC solution to scalably verify the identity of millions of Pioneers all over the world to onboard them to the Mainnet blockchain and ecosystem.
Not only is KYC important for the integrity of the network and compliance, but also it makes sure that it is fair for all human Pioneers who have been honestly mining in their own accounts. Achieving this goal is critical because real verified humans on Pi will contribute to the robustness of the network while encouraging the development of various apps for a utility-based ecosystem.
Over the past year, the Pi KYC software has been continuously updated to allow more and more Pioneers to apply, address many different corner cases in the application process, and verify identities of millions of Pioneers to prepare them for their Mainnet migration, while safeguarding the integrity of the network. The KYC progress of the whole network will remain a top priority of the community including the Core Team, Validators and Pioneers, and one of the two primary goals of the Enclosed Network period in the Mainnet Phase.
In the recent celebration of Pi Day, a major software update in the KYC app was also released and introduced in the Pi Day 2023 announcement. We’re providing the following FAQs to elaborate on the Pi Day KYC announcement and overall assist Pioneers on their KYC journey.
KYC FAQs
1 - Do you still need to get a KYC slot randomly assigned by the system?
No, anyone except the two scenarios below should be able to visit the KYC app via Pi Browser and start your KYC application without waiting for an invitation. The invitation-based KYC slots assignment was only used in the past, and the process has been updated to allow anyone to start.
Cases when you cannot get KYC application:
- Newly created accounts will not be able to immediately apply for KYC verification, until after mining for 30 days (no need to be consecutive). This helps the network prioritize KYC validation resources for more committed human Pioneers who also have mined enough balance to make sense to go through KYC and migrate to Mainnet.
A very small proportion of accounts, identified by the algorithms as highly likely fake accounts or accounts that have violations, will not be eligible to KYC. If such account owners think that there is a mistake by the algorithms, they should submit their username for further investigation and potential proof of otherwise by filling in this form here: KYC Application Access Feedback Form. Depending on what we receive, we can investigate further.
2 - When a KYC slot is opened up for you, will you still get the "KYC slot" popup notification when you start a new mining session?
The KYC popup notification should not be used as the only means by which Pioneers know whether they are eligible to start KYC application or not, although they will likely get a “KYC slot” popup. Pioneers should directly check their KYC eligibility on the KYC app in the Pi Browser (KYC.PI). You can simply open the Pi Browser and navigate to the KYC application. Please use the popup notification as a reminder rather than an invitation.
3 - Now that Pi KYC is open for all, how can I apply for KYC?
Downloading the Pi Browser is required to apply for KYC. You can access KYC through the Pi KYC app in the Pi Browser. Make sure to have your relevant identification documents ready!
Pioneers are encouraged to directly check your KYC eligibility on the KYC app in the Pi Browser.
4 - KYC Tentative Approval: What does it mean? What is necessary to pass? How long will that take?
The Tentative KYC program, which does not apply to the majority of the network, requires additional verification checks before the Pioneer can fully pass KYC. Tentative KYC approval does not equal full KYC approval, and thus will not yet unlock functionalities (e.g. becoming a Validator, or migrating to the Mainnet) requiring full KYC approval until the additional checks confirm its full KYC approval. However, tentative KYC approval gets the account much closer to full approval.
The reason for the selective Tentative KYC program is to ensure the integrity of the network—cautiously allowing as many real human Pioneers as possible to pass KYC, while catching and preventing as many fake and bot accounts as possible. Not only is this important for the network, but it’s also fair for all human Pioneers who have been honestly mining in their own accounts.
The specific additional verification steps may vary depending on the individual case, and the time it takes to complete them can vary, as well. Factors that can impact the timing include the volume of KYC applications being processed, availability of human validators of the region, complexity of the application, and types of additional checks applied to the tentative KYC case.
5 - When the KYC status is "Tentative approval," how long will it take for it to be final "KYC passed"?
The duration of the Tentative Approval status is on a case-by-case basis and depends on the extent and types of additional verifications needed. One of the priorities of Q2 2023 for the KYC app is to iterate and apply such additional checks on the tentative KYC cases.
6 - When KYC status is "Tentative approval," can migration to Mainnet happen?
No, you need to fully pass the KYC to be able to migrate to the Mainnet.
7 - When KYC is submitted, what screens can you get in the KYC app?
After submitting the KYC application, the Pioneer can expect to see a few different screens in the KYC app. Pioneers may see a screen indicating that the application is “review in progress”. If the KYC application is approved tentatively (meaning it was accepted by Validators pending additional checks), the Pioneer may see a “tentative approval” screen.
If the additional checks further confirm the authenticity of the data and account, a Pioneer will see the “KYC passed” screen. For the majority of applications that are outside of the Tentative KYC program, they will directly see the “KYC passed” screen without the additional checks, if they are accepted
8 - As per previous announcements, a submitted KYC application may be approved within 15 minutes if everything is submitted correctly and no name appeal is made. Is this still the case?
Yes, this is still the case as long as Pioneers have completed the required fields correctly and the availability of the human Validators is abundant in the country or region.
9 - When will it be possible for KYC Validators to review name change appeals?
For Pioneers who appealed to change their account name (for small name updates), their appeals are either resolved by only machine automation or require the help from human validators to resolve. The first case has already been in place unblocking such applications to proceed in their KYC process. For the second case, human validators will likely be able to review name change appeals in Q2 this year, after the priorities of additional checks on tentative KYC applications and validators performance analysis.
10 - My KYC is approved but not reflected in Mainnet Checklist Step 6. When can I proceed and start migration?
The Core Team is aware of this issue affecting some users and are working on resolving the data synchronization issue on the Mainnet Checklist in Q2 this year. In general, always rely on the Pi KYC app for the most accurate KYC status.
11 - Overall, why is Pi Network requiring KYC before Mainnet Migration?
The vision of Pi Network is to build an inclusive and the most widely-distributed digital currency and ecosystem for all Pioneers. Pi Network’s mining mechanism is social-network based and relies on contributions of real Pioneers. Therefore, Pi has a strict policy of one account per person.
This requires a high degree of accuracy to establish that members in the network are genuine human beings, preventing individuals from being able to hoard Pi by creating fake accounts unfairly. KYC thus helps ensure the true humanness of the network in addition to compliance with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism regulations.
Only people who passed the Pi KYC can migrate to the Pi Mainnet. The current Enclosed Mainnet period gives the community time to KYC and migrate to the Mainnet blockchain—a identity-verified, compliant and utilities-driven ecosystem where Pioneers can begin to use Pi for real goods and services.
Human powered identity verification in the Age of AI
Communities, even (and especially) digital communities, need people. But how can you prove their humanity at scale? In the case of Pi Network, a massive global community powered by the world’s most distributed mobile-mined cryptocurrency, the secret has been balancing the intrigue of high-tech with the people. We found success through creating a native KYC solution.
Building a Crypto Community in the Age of AI
Crypto ecosystems like Ethereum, Solana, or Pi Network are communities made up of different actors—from end-users and developers to miners and validators. Yet, creating a thriving and long-lasting community requires significant skills and resources. We’ve seen traditional social networks like Facebook and Twitter use AI-powered algorithms to grow their user bases, but that can be problematic.
While spam bots and other factors have plagued and damaged some online communities, we can still see the tremendous impact that flawed and human communities have managed to instigate. Reddit’s community of like-minded speculators on Wall Street Bets have managed to make a global financial impact time and time again, all built around real people.
Consider it the Turing Test at scale: how can companies verify that their people are real?
Complying with Stricter Regulation
Verifying the identity of one’s customers is a complex proposition, requiring scalability and security around personal data. Compounding the problem for technology firms, like social networks and crypto apps, is the need to comply with increasingly strict regulations—from the treatment of user data to the implementation of KYC.
KYC (or “Know Your Customer”) obliges financial institutions to carry out routine identity and background checks on their clients before using their platforms and is part of a broader set of measures to fight money laundering and other illicit activity. Once only pertaining to the banking sector, KYC is now increasingly required of companies in the cryptocurrency sector from exchanges and brokers to wallet providers and other services. And, with the expansion of Web3 and the continued push towards rewarding digital users, the importance of KYC will only compound.
Additionally, KYC can create friction when it comes to onboarding new users, providing a new and onerous barrier to entry. In the UK alone, for example, one-quarter of new applications are abandoned due to KYC friction.
That reveals the central irony of KYC: in our impatience, we are often too human to prove our humanity.
Solving for Scalable KYC
To solve this KYC dilemma, we believe human-centered design and scalable technology will allow the future of Web3 to transparently and fairly compensate users while maintaining both personal anonymity and legal compliance.
Pi Network was founded on a synthesis of scientific facts and human truths –– as Stanford University PhDs, you might expect as much from us.
We say “scientific truths” because we believe there is a truth in everything we do in an effort to get closer to, and test, our hypotheses in design, strategy, and management. The immutable facts of math guide us, and we always analyze the empirical data to inform the next iteration.
When we say “human truths” we reflect the fact that no project is built in a vacuum: everything we do is experienced by real people, in real places, with real lives, emotions and experiences that may impact their perception. Some human truths are fundamental; others are malleable. We consider human truths and community needs in every iteration as well.
Maintaining a balance between those truths drives us forward, step by step, as our project advances. For example, decentralization is one prominent property of crypto networks and an important component of Pi’s vision, but we do not want to just decentralize for the sake of having decentralization. Rather, we have been adopting progressive decentralization, based on the stage of the industry, the readiness and awareness of the mainstream audience, utilities development of blockchain technology, and the phase of our project, to hopefully ultimately achieve decentralization that is meaningful and sustainable.
At Pi, we have applied iterative methods to all aspects of the project, from our network-level strategies to testing small product features in our mobile application, to developing the token model to a workflow process.
That distinction separates us from some set-in-stone models that rely on their whitepaper hypothesis before their people. Instead, we apply our feedback and our iterations to inform and improve the token model and network structure––all to better meet the needs of the people we serve.
Pi Network’s Community-Sourced KYC Solution
Pi Network designed its native KYC solution, Pi KYC, in response to the lack of scalability, financial accessibility, and global reach from other third-party market solutions. Combining scientific and human truths, Pi KYC combines machine automation (AI) with crowdsourced, “hyperlocal” human verification to accomplish accurate and efficient KYC for more than 35 million global members already on its mobile platform.
Machine automation is responsible for image processing, text extraction, fake ID detection, liveness check, and image comparison. Human verification, meanwhile, is processed by pre-approved individuals who check the redacted data of other members’ KYC applications, thus preventing individuals from creating fake accounts.
To solve the problem of scalable KYC, Pi KYC now boasts a robust, self-sustaining human validation workforce in more than 200 countries worldwide (areas that represent about 92.6% of the global population). The network is continually expanding with over 125,000 trusted Validators, validating KYC applications globally, whose efforts are rewarded in Pi.
Beyond preventing spam accounts and keeping out bad actors, Pi KYC helps the network to comply with legal regulation while frictionlessly growing its thriving community. In the age of AI, Pi Network has built a decentralized scalable KYC solution that combines machine automation with crowdsourced human verification for an efficient and responsive solution.
Harnessing the best of both worlds, Pi KYC allows the Network to build a legally compliant crypto community that is optimized for accuracy, privacy, and global accessibility. And best of all — it’s truly human at its core.
In truth, it’s hard for any entrepreneur to know whether or when their project will be successful, and that applies to us as well. What we do know is that Pi has a grand vision for an accessible and inclusive network and ecosystem built on blockchain and fueled by a fairly distributed cryptocurrency. Through the power of community, we are closer each day to realizing that vision.
• • •
Mainnet migration is finally here!
If you have passed Pi KYC, you can complete all the items on the Mainnet Checklist right now to enable the transfer of your mobile Transferable Balance to Mainnet. Please tap “Mainnet Checklist” on the home screen to complete your pre-migration requirements.
Once you finish Steps 1-6 of your Mainnet checklist, a new Step 7 will become available to you. Completing this final step enables the Mainnet transfer to be queued for migration. Pi Network has made cryptocurrency accessible worldwide, allowing Pioneers to mine Pi on the phone with no fiat cost. It is a great success of the community to come to a moment where the mined Pi balance is ready to migrate to Mainnet.
After the checklist is completed, the Pioneer’s Transferable Balance will be queued for transfer to their wallet address on the Mainnet blockchain.After the migration, there will be a 14-day pending period during which Pioneers’ Pi balance in their Mainnet wallet will not be transferable yet by the Pioneer, allowing the network to conduct additional checks or course corrections if necessary to clear the transfer. Given the immutable nature of blockchain and the early period of the network migration process, a 14-day pending period is helpful to make sure people’s migrated balances are correct. When the pending period expires, the Pioneer will then be able to use their Pi as they wish within the Enclosed Pi Mainnet.
Transferable Balance
The following portions of your Pi Mobile Balance will constitute your Transferable Balance, eligible for the migration to Mainnet. Keep in mind that any remaining or newly accrued Transferable Balance will continue to be migrated after the first migration because the network will continue to have a cadence of automatic, ongoing migrations later.
- Self-mined Pi (which accrues when you mine by yourself based on the base mining rate at the time of the mining session)
- Portion of the Security Circle rewards that are attributable to KYC’ed Pioneers in your Security Circle
- Rewards from app usage, node operation, or lockup
Pi mined through Referral Team rewards will be put on hold for migration at this time regardless of whether anyone on the Referral Team is KYC’ed or not. Generally, portions of Referral rewards attributable to different Referral Team members will only become Transferable Balance once the corresponding members get KYC’ed. Otherwise, it remains as Unverified Balance in the mobile app. Because calculating the network's Referral rewards is computationally intensive and costly, it makes sense to compute such rewards when the network has more people KYC'ed. The reason that Referral Team rewards are computationally intensive is that it accounts for the concurrent mining of each specific Referring and Referred Pioneer pair, which can vary even within the same Referral Team. For the efficiency of the network, any Referral Team reward will, therefore, be processed and migrated at a later date when there are more KYC’ed Pioneers.
On the other hand, Security Circle rewards attributable to KYC’ed Pioneers will be transferred to Mainnet at this time. Keep in mind that the Transferable Balance displayed on the Mainnet screen in the Pi app does not currently include these Security Circle rewards. Therefore, the amount of Pi that migrates to Mainnet is expected to be higher than the currently displayed Transferable Balance if any member of your Security Circle has passed KYC. Future UI will update this displayed number to account for portions of Security Circle rewards that become transferable.
Finally, the KYC fee of 1 Pi will be deducted from your transferable balance, which will go to a validator pool for rewarding the Pi community's human validator workforce.
After the initial transfer to the Mainnet, Pioneers can continue to mine Pi just as before in the app by making different types of contributions. Newly mined Pi will go through the same process of becoming Transferable Balance, ready for the next Mainnet transfer which will occur automatically when the network activates it at a later time.
How do Lockups work on Mainnet?
While the locked up Pi based on a Pioneer’s lockup settings (percentage and duration) will be transferred to the Mainnet blockchain visible in the Pioneer’s Mainnet wallet, their locked up Pi will not be transferable on the blockchain until the lockup duration time matures. The lockup duration set by the Pioneer begins at the end of the 14-day pending period.
There is an additional design to the lockup durations for a potentially better network effect. The longer durations, namely 1 year and 3 years, will end on a randomized, staggered basis. This is to avoid the situation where many Pioneers get their future long-term lockups released at the same time, given that they will migrate to the Mainnet blockchain at the same time. Specifically:
- Pioneers with a 1 year lockup can get up to a 1-month “discount” on their lockup period, meaning their lockup can expire up to a month early on a random basis. However, all Pioneers will still benefit from the mining reward applicable to the 1-year lockup period through their actual lockup period. For example, if a Pioneer locked up 100 Pi for 1 year, the actual lockup on the blockchain may be in 11 month and15 days based on this randomization, instead of exactly 12 months.
- Pioneers with a 3 year lockup can similarly get up to a 3-month discount while still benefiting from the mining reward applicable to the 3 year lockup period.
The amount of discount will be applied randomly across Pioneers. For example, some Pioneers will have their 1-year lockup end a month early, some 20 days early, some 5 days early, some right at the 1-year mark, and so on. Even if the lockup ends a month early, the Pioneer will be able to accrue lockup mining rewards at the rate applicable to the 1-year lockup period through their actual lockup period of 11 months.
Reminders about the Mainnet migration
As you go through this exciting activity, please remember two key points:
- While completing the checklist, it is essential that Pioneers use their correct wallet private key, which they store safely and not share with anyone else. The wallet is noncustodial, meaning that the network cannot recover your Pi if you lose your private passphrase or someone with access to your private passphrase steals Pi from your wallet.
- Once the 14-day pending period expires and you have freed up Pi on your Mainnet wallet, all transactions you conduct on the Mainnet blockchain will be visible and irreversible.
Pi KYC accessibility
As announced previously, the network KYC process is making good progress, allowing more than half of all Pioneers to submit KYC applications (though it will still take time for the network to submit, process and complete these KYC applications). This fact enables the network to start migrating KYC’ed Pioneers to the Mainnet since migrating the entire network to Mainnet also takes time. Migrated Pioneers can then start helping to bootstrap and build the ecosystem in the Enclosed Period of the Mainnet, while the KYC process continues to scale to enable more Pioneers to go through KYC and process unprocessed applications that have been submitted.
We understand that many Pioneers are eagerly waiting for their turn or for their applications to be processed. Below are ongoing measures that will help more Pioneers pass KYC soon.
- Technical funnel improvements to handle the application and validation of more and more Pioneers at scale
- Human validation power to continue growing and bootstrapping more countries and regions
- Reducing the chance of false negatives of the ongoing funnel to pass more KYC applications, and reprocessing some submitted applications that are supposed to pass but were previously marked as negative
Solutions for KYC applications that may miss critical data from previous applications, including some Yoti KYC applicants and some pilot Pi KYC applicants: - For previous Yoti KYC applicants — the Pi Core Team has deployed a special fast-track Pi KYC flow for them to fill in missing data. For some Yoti KYC applicants experiencing issues with this flow, an additional feature is being designed to address these corner cases
- For previous KYC Pilot applicants — the Pi Core Team is currently building a reprocessing mechanism to match pilot applications with current KYC requirements, and a resubmission feature described below to essentially match the chances that current KYC applicants get when submitting their applications. For example, if a photo or video upload fails, current applicants would get multiple chances to resubmit, which was not possible in the pilot version of the KYC app
- A new resubmission feature is being developed and will be released soon to enable previous Yoti KYC and KYC Pilot applicants to resubmit a brand new application and get unstuck, if they choose so and do not want to wait for the custom solutions mentioned above, since the current improved and scaled Pi KYC solution can potentially process new applications within a short time
- A process to support Pioneers with complex name appeals, which create complications in processing their KYC and may require additional human Validator help to resolve
Please note that for certain countries or regions, due to the Pioneers’ unique way of accessing the Pi Network, it takes longer and more complex procedures for the Pi KYC machine automation component to process their accounts, thus leading to their delayed receipt of KYC slots. Therefore, it is possible that these countries or regions have slower KYC onboarding than other regions.
Overall, for Pioneers who are still waiting for their chance to submit KYC, please be patient as the network continues to scale the KYC solution and solve the corner cases that apply to you.
Importance of the Mainnet Enclosed Network period
As stated in the December Whitepaper, the current Enclosed Network period is specifically designed to allow the Pi Ecosystem time to transition onto the Mainnet blockchain, while millions of Pioneers pass KYC and new apps and utilities are built by community developers.
Consistent with the vision of the Pi network to enable a utility-based ecosystem, the Enclosed period also allows apps to deploy on Mainnet and create utilities for Pioneers. Pi apps will be able to switch from Testnet to Mainnet, to production mode for real Pi transactions. Apps released during this period will include those created by community developers and the Core Team. Moreover, new and improved developer engagement programs—such as continuous Hackathons and other developer programs—will be released to mobilize and incentivize more community development.
Pioneers who are both KYC’ed and migrated will be able to spend their Pi on Pi apps, boosting utilities creation and bootstrapping the Pi ecosystem before the Open Network. Some of such Pi apps will soon be available for Pioneers after the pending period post-migration, while more Pi apps from the community will be gradually onboarded. This gradual and deliberate ramp to Open Network will also help the apps, as well as the Pi Network, to uncover and resolve any glitches in the market and the technology.
While transactions between Pi apps and Pioneers and Pioneer-to-Pioneer transactions are allowed within Pi Network, the Enclosed Network will have certain restrictions listed below until the Open Network period begins.
- No external connectivity is allowed between Pi and other blockchains or crypto exchanges
- Mainnet can only be accessed through the Pi Wallet and Pi apps on the Pi Browser
Monthly mining rate adjustment reminder
The basic mining rate has been adjusted
On March 1, 2022, the declining rewards issuance formula took effect. In particular, the systemwide base mining rate (B) was reduced based on a monthly supply limit defined by the formula, which is described in the following sections. B stays constant for a month and then gets adjusted every following month based on the formula.
On March 14, 2022, the new mining mechanism, which includes new rewards specified in the December Whitepaper, took effect. Pioneers are now able to increase their individual mining rate by making newer, more diverse types of contributions to the network via Pi lockup, app usage, and node operations.
Based on the rewards issuance formula, the base mining rate (B) decreased again on June 1st, according to the plan. This new B takes effect when a Pioneer launches their first new mining session in June and will stay constant throughout the month. There will be a new B in July. Below are more details, announced on March 1st, about the rewards issuance formula, how B is calculated, and what Pioneers can do to increase their individual mining rate.
New mining rate and rewards issuance formula
The first version of the Rewards Issuance Formula was announced March 1st 2022 —the declining exponential function described below—whereby in combination with mining activities, the systemwide base mining rate (B) is reduced based on a monthly supply limit determined by the formula. The monthly decrease in B occurs on the first day of each new month and remains constant through the end of that month. B will continue to be adjusted based on the formula and decrease on a monthly basis in the future. Note that the new base mining rate will take effect upon the start of each Pioneer’s first new mining session of the month.
This formula intends to ensure that Pioneer mining rewards are within the total supply limit of 65 billion allocated for mining rewards as announced in the December Whitepaper. This declining exponential function along with the new mining mechanism balances the network’s need for growth, accessibility, longevity, and scarcity. Additionally, it right-sizes the Pioneers’ rewards for contribution to the network.
Even though B is reduced, Pioneers now have many more avenues to make other types of contributions to the network and boost their individual mining rates. This, in fact, is one of the purposes of the new mining mechanism. On March 14 (Pi day), 2022, the new mining mechanism took effect along with the new types of rewards: lockup, app usage, and node operation—as specified by their respective formulae in the December Whitepaper.
Together, the first version of the declining network rewards issuance formula and the new mining mechanism mark a major advancement in the development of Pi Network’s Token Model and Mining design during the Mainnet phase. These incremental steps further exemplify how the Enclosed Mainnet period offers the network opportunities to iterate on specific formulae based on ongoing findings as well as token modeling and simulations.
Please note that the declining exponential formula below is the first version of the Rewards Issuance Formula, as it is impossible to precisely predict the future data on Mainnet and from new mining. This first version was designed based on past data, simulations and best assumptions, such as the 35 billion remaining supply for future mining rewards, Pioneer lockups and overall ecosystem factors. For example, the 35 billion remaining Pi is estimated based on the currently available data about real Pioneers’ mobile balances. A more accurate figure will be determined by the speed of network KYC and how much Pi is migrated to the Mainnet in the future. Further data and continual simulations will help assess such underlying assumptions in the rewards issuance formula, and thus, may lead to the formula’s adjustment in line with the network’s objectives as explained above.
supply_limits (expressed in Pi/day) = exp (-last_day_total_mining_rewards / 1220) • 35,000,000,000, where
- supply_limits are the output of this formula that allocates a specific amount of Pi to each day for the indefinite time while making sure the total future issuance will not exceed the remaining available supply,
- last_day_total_mining_rewards is equal to the total Pi mining rewards issued on the previous day,
- 1220 is a tuning factor to be further tuned over the coming months, and
- 35 billion is the estimated number of Pi available for Pioneers to mine going forward.
How is the Monthly B calculated?
The December Whitepaper stated that the systemwide base mining rate (B) will be dynamically adjusted to keep the mining rewards issuance within supply limits for a certain period of time. The time period could be yearly, monthly, daily, hourly, or even more granular. For simplicity, we are starting the dynamic B on a monthly basis, meaning that B will stay constant for a month and will be adjusted based on the rewards issuance formula and the network’s mining activities at the end of each month. Starting with a B that stays constant for a month helps Pioneers understand the implications of
- new supply limits,
- the new mining mechanism with new rewards, and
- a more dynamic nature of B (potentially in the future)
one at a time, given that these concepts are complex and all have an effect on Pioneers’ mining rewards. At the same time, a monthly period is short enough to correct any potential over- or under-issuance of Pi deviating from the rewards issuance formula while B is stable long enough for Pioneers to follow along and adjust their contributions to the network to mine for rewards.
Each month’s B is calculated based on the supply limit for the month based on this formula and the sum of all reward coefficients of all active Pioneers from the last day of the previous month. This B stays constant through the month and updates again on the first day of the next month. This adjustment of B occurs each month.
More specifically, the value of B for a given month is calculated by summing up the daily supply_limits for the month from the above rewards issuance formula and dividing it by the number of days in the month for even daily allocation within the month and dividing it again by the sum of coefficients of mining rewards of all active Pioneers of the last day of the previous month—including their multiples of Referral Team, Security Circle, Pi Lockup, App usage, and Node Operation rewards (Please refer to December Whitepaper: Section: Mainnet Mining Formula to understand how to calculate B). Similar iterations occur each month.
When B stays constant in a month, the total number of Pi actually mined every month varies with the total number of actively mining Pioneers and the contributions they make in that month. At the end of the month, the total number of Pi actually mined will be compared with the number initially projected by the formula. Any deviation between the two numbers each month will lead to a further adjustment on the remaining Pi supply, across the remaining indefinite mining period, along with any other types of adjustments explained above, e.g. the assumed 35 billion remaining mining rewards supply.
As such, the monthly B can potentially cause an overissuance of Pi when there is an unexpected increase in the number of Pioneers and their mining rates, leading to a deviation from the rewards issuance formula. If such deviation on a monthly basis is constantly large, the network can move to a more dynamic version of the B model where the monthly issuance of Pi remains constant but B gets adjusted on a more granular time epoch basis. The shorter the time period for adjusting B to follow the formula, the less is the potential for over- or under-issuance against the targeted supply limits, and the less is the chance for deviation from the formula over that period. More data on Mainnet and the new mining mechanism will help examine the efficacy of the current monthly dynamic B and determine if a more dynamic version B is necessary.
How can pioneers mine more Pi?
Although the base mining rate has dropped, Pioneers have multiple ways to increase their individual mining rate, accentuating the importance of making more contributions to the network. In addition to mining everyday, you can boost your individual mining rate by:
- completing your Security Circle to maximize Security Circle rewards,
- inviting your friends to mine Pi to increase Referral Team rewards,
- reminding your existing Referral Team to mine,
- setting and commiting to a lockup configuration or increasing your current lockup commitment,
- engaging with the apps on the Pi Browser directory to increase App Usage rewards, and
- running a Node on the Testnet to increase Node Rewards.
Pi Network support guide "New Support Portal & Community Wiki"
This post is meant to help guide Pioneers on how they can get support in Pi Network.
If you have additional questions after reading the FAQ or White Paper, the Pi App chat rooms have Chat Moderators who can help provide clarification on questions and troubleshooting guidance. Pi Chat Moderators will have a purple circled M in the upper right hand corner of their messages.
The Support Portal and Community Wiki are intended to help Pioneers troubleshoot and resolve an issue on their own before starting an Email Request. The purpose of our Email Request system is for Pioneers to report bugs and to troubleshoot bug issues with the app or your Pi account that are not covered by the Community Wiki. Due to high ticket volume, we will prioritize responding to constructive proposals and to critical issues that cannot be addressed by the FAQ, Community Wiki, or Pi Chat Moderators. The Core Team welcomes your meaningful questions and feedback, and even if you may not receive a response, your messages are monitored by Pi Core Team members.