Pi Network starts October with a coin stuck below nine cents, a major protocol upgrade scheduled for October 16 — and a price range where a small shift in buying could mean the difference between a run at 0.115 USD and a slide back to record lows.
By Jennifer Kim | October 3, 2026
The Hook: A Billion-Dollar Coin With a Nine-Cent Price Tag
Pi Network’s PI token traded near 0.0888 USD on October 3, according to CoinGecko data, with roughly 5.1 million USD in reported daily volume and a market value of around 1 billion USD, thanks to a circulating supply near 11.24 billion coins. Over the past week, PI bounced between approximately 0.0861 and 0.0935 USD — a narrow band that has contained much of its trading since July.
The contrast between the headline valuation and the trading activity is stark. Daily volume of 5.1 million USD is only about 0.5 percent of the stated market value. Translation: very few coins actually change hands each day, which means relatively modest buying or selling pressure can move the price dramatically in either direction. For a project with millions of app users, the market itself is surprisingly thin.
On-Chain Evidence: Two Dated Events Anchor October
October’s calendar holds two concrete project milestones. The first is technical: Protocol 28, which completed on testnet in late September, now has a mainnet schedule. Node operators must upgrade by October 13, with mainnet activation planned for October 16. According to Pi’s official announcements, the upgrade improves how the network handles delayed transaction data and lets developers upgrade groups of smart contracts together more safely.
The second is strategic: Pi announced an Open Standard partnership — an agreement to explore how a stablecoin could support rewards and usage across the Pi ecosystem. Neither event, it should be stressed, tells anyone how many people will buy PI or how much newly transferable supply holders will sell. That missing balance is exactly what any October forecast has to confront.
There is also backlog context. Pi’s system still shows roughly 417,000 KYC cases and 497,000 wallet cases awaiting processing — pending identity verifications and wallet migrations. These are not completed migrations, and not immediate sell pressure, but each migration adds coins that could eventually trade.
The Core Conflict: Best Case, Worst Case, and the Range Between
The central battleground is the 0.08 to 0.10 USD range. In the conditional best case, PI breaks and holds above 0.10 USD with sustained volume — September’s repeated failures near 0.093 USD would need to give way to multiple daily closes above the round number. That would open a path toward 0.115 USD.
In the conditional worst case, PI loses the 0.08 USD floor that has supported the range for months. Below it, the recorded all-time low near 0.07059 USD comes into play. For context, PI trades about 97 percent below its 2.99 USD peak — a return to that high would require a more than thirtyfold rise from here.
These are scenarios, not promises. A brief poke above 0.10 USD means little if holders sell into the spike and volume collapses. Confirmation requires multiple daily closes above the level with volume that holds up as price rises — anything less leaves the best case unconfirmed.
Market Implications: What This Means for You
If you hold PI from the mining app era, the October 16 upgrade is the event to watch — not because upgrades automatically lift prices, but because it lands while record amounts of supply are still migrating to wallets. Upgrades plus rising transferable supply plus thin volume is a mix that rewards caution over conviction.
If you are considering buying the dip, understand what you are buying: a token whose daily trading is a rounding error next to its market cap, meaning prices can gap. Set levels before you act — the 0.08 USD floor and the 0.10 USD ceiling define the trade — and size positions as if the worst case, not the best case, is plausible.
The Verdict
Pi Network’s October is a race between a dated software upgrade and a slowly growing supply of tradable coins. The 0.08 to 0.10 USD range has held since July; Protocol 28 on October 16 will test whether it survives another month. Treat any break in either direction with skepticism until volume confirms it — in a market this thin, patience is the edge.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
5.1m daily volume on a 1b market cap lmao, that’s a kiddie pool with a billion dollar sign taped to it
^ been that way since july though, the 0.0861 to 0.0935 band is basically painted on at this point
Protocol 28 bundling smart contract upgrades for devs is the first genuinely useful thing I’ve read about Pi in months. Still not touching the token.
Same. Smart contract support could finally quiet the “it’s just an app” crowd, though I will believe the October 16 activation when the block explorer actually loads
Smart contract support could genuinely change the game if PCT ships it on schedule, but ‘on schedule’ is doing a lot of work in that sentence. I will believe the October 16 date when the block height rolls over.
5.1M daily volume on a 1B market cap. pi moves on vibes and two market buys at this point
Node operators must upgrade by October 13, mainnet activation on the 16th. That gives PI exactly a three day hopium window after the deadline. Plan accordingly.
node upgrades never pump anything on their own. the 0.115 target needs actual buyers, not calendar dates
calendar dates and hopium is the entire pi marketing stack. protocol 28 wont list it anywhere new either, and the listing is the actual gate
three day hopium window is generous lol, more like 3 hours of chop then straight back under 0.089
band has held since july but protocol 28 is the first real catalyst in months. doesnt mean it breaks out, just means the 0.0861 floor finally gets tested
still holding the referral era bag from 2021. protocol 28 is nice and all but until PI gets a real listing with withdrawable coins, the 0.115 talk is fiction
referral era bag here too, and the 0.115 dream requires coins people can actually withdraw and sell first. still cant on most balances
A billion dollar market cap on 5.1M daily volume means the price is propped up by illiquidity, not demand. Protocol 28 needs to come with real exchange listings or the low-volume trap just tightens.
protocol 28 activation in under two weeks and volume is still 5.1m. even the believers arent pre buying the band break
5.1m daily volume on a 1b market cap is the number that ends the dream talk. that 0.115 target needs actual buyers and there are none in this band
protocol 28 on october 16 is the only date that matters. everything between 0.086 and 0.093 is just the market waiting for it
if the upgrade slips past october 16 that band breaks downward first. record lows are closer than 0.115, the risk is not symmetric here
@grinding_gear and the slip risk is real, node upgrades on pi have quietly missed deadlines before. oct 13 participation is the number to watch, not the 16th announcement
october 16 matters only if withdrawals follow. smart contracts on coins you cannot move is a demo, PI needs the listing before the 0.115 talk means anything
0.5 percent daily volume against a 1b valuation. price discovery on PI is basically two whales texting each other.
two whales texting is generous, more like one whale texting himself. 5.1m volume against 11.24b circulating is not a market, its a quote
a 1b valuation on 5.1m daily volume, one market sell and the band breaks. record low risk is closer to the truth than the 0.115 dream framing
the 0.115 crowd needs one big listing before that conversation even starts. until then its hopium with extra steps
The 2021 referral bag holders are the emotional anchor of this whole saga. Six years of mining on a phone for what is now 9 cents of hope. I respect the persistence even if the economics never made sense.
protocol 28 bundling smart contracts is nice but the october 13 node upgrade deadline is the choke point. if half the nodes sit on old versions the 16th activation slips quietly