Pi Network (PI) is down 4% by press time on Friday, after three days of an uptrend fueled by the CiDi Games partnership announcement on Wednesday. The intraday pullback risks erasing this week’s gains as Centralized Exchanges (CEXs) witness large deposits ahead of the scheduled unlock of 186 million PI tokens in December.
CiDi Games’ announcement loses its charm ahead of the December token unlock
Pi Network’s partnership with CiDi Games expands the real-world utility of the PI token in the gaming industry. Building on the mobile mining cryptocurrency, the PI token will now serve as the primary currency for payments, transactions, and incentives across CiDi Games’ titles.
Beyond this, an open framework is in the works by CiDi Games to extend Pi Network, which is scheduled for initial testing in early 2026.
However, the intraday pullback in PI aligns with a surge in CEXs’ wallet balances, reaching 1.71 million tokens over the last 24 hours, indicating large deposits from traders losing confidence.
The sudden supply shock after the gaming expansion boost aligns with the upcoming 186 million PI tokens to be unlocked in December, which accounts for 43% of the total supply of 431.48 million PI available on CEXs. Typically, token unlocks can boost selling pressure when investors’ confidence is low.
Pi Network loses strength near the 100-day EMA
Pi Network trades near the $0.2600 mark after a 4% drop by press time on Friday, nearly erasing the 6.88% gains from Thursday. A bearish close to the day would mark the end of the short-term recovery run, threatening the reclaimed 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $0.2446.
If PI drops below $0.2446, it could further extend the pullback to the $0.2000 psychological level.
The technical indicators on the daily chart suggest that buying pressure has cooled, as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped to 61, signaling a retracement from the overbought territory.
However, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) and signal line are holding steady above the zero line. If the pullback extends, the red line could cross below the blue one, triggering a sell signal.
Looking up, a potential rebound in PI could test the 100-day EMA at $0.2921, followed by the August 1 low at $0.3220.
Crypto ETF FAQs
An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is an investment vehicle or an index that tracks the price of an underlying asset. ETFs can not only track a single asset, but a group of assets and sectors. For example, a Bitcoin ETF tracks Bitcoin’s price. ETF is a tool used by investors to gain exposure to a certain asset.
Yes. The first Bitcoin futures ETF in the US was approved by the US Securities & Exchange Commission in October 2021. A total of seven Bitcoin futures ETFs have been approved, with more than 20 still waiting for the regulator’s permission. The SEC says that the cryptocurrency industry is new and subject to manipulation, which is why it has been delaying crypto-related futures ETFs for the last few years.
Yes. The SEC approved in January 2024 the listing and trading of several Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Funds, opening the door to institutional capital and mainstream investors to trade the main crypto currency. The decision was hailed by the industry as a game changer.
The main advantage of crypto ETFs is the possibility of gaining exposure to a cryptocurrency without ownership, reducing the risk and cost of holding the asset. Other pros are a lower learning curve and higher security for investors since ETFs take charge of securing the underlying asset holdings. As for the main drawbacks, the main one is that as an investor you can’t have direct ownership of the asset, or, as they say in crypto, “not your keys, not your coins.” Other disadvantages are higher costs associated with holding crypto since ETFs charge fees for active management. Finally, even though investing in ETFs reduces the risk of holding an asset, price swings in the underlying cryptocurrency are likely to be reflected in the investment vehicle too.