- Pi Network founders have talked about AI, crypto utility, and the future of Pi at Consensus 2026 Miami.
- The team has called on node operators to complete the Protocol 23 upgrade.
Pi founders Chengdiao Fan and Nicolas Kokkalis spoke at the Consensus 2026 Miami conference. Speaking in separate sessions, their speeches focused on AI, crypto utility, and identity verification.
Fan said that Pi now has over 60 million mobile users, 18 million KYC-verified users, and 6.5 million people with mainnet wallets. She also talked about how the network was not supporting short-term profit schemes but building an environment that creates real products, brings verified users, and blockchain benefits.
“Pi Network, with its large engaged social network, verified human identity and distributed computing power, is innovating to lead during a time of societal transformation.”
She explained that its blockchain infrastructure, identity verification, and global network can support utility-driven products and businesses. Projects like Pi Network will be key to verifying trust and identity as AI becomes more popular, she added.
Pi Founder Chengdiao Fan spoke today at Consensus 2026 Miami in her session, “Aligning Web3, AI, and Blockchain for Utility.”
Dr. Fan shared how Pi’s blockchain infrastructure, identity verification, and a globally engaged network can support utility-driven products and… pic.twitter.com/gTXFKzUvzb
— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) May 6, 2026
Her sentiments were reiterated by Kokkalis, who warned that one of the most urgent challenges is verifications. He explained that in an era dominated by AI, maintaining trust and verifying real human identity was a big task. He noted that AI is increasingly taking on human identity, generating convincing bots and profiles that are nearly indistinguishable to humans.
He proposed the Pi Network as an integral part of the infrastructure that helps verify human identity.
Pi Founder Nicolas Kokkalis spoke today at Consensus 2026 Miami on the panel, “How to Prove You’re Human in an AI World (Without Doxing Yourself).”
The discussion focused on one of the most urgent challenges in the AI era: how to maintain trust and verify real human identity as… pic.twitter.com/aMvcPl8Zcq
— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) May 7, 2026
Pi Crashes Ahead of Upgrade
Despite the Pi Network founders being featured in one of the most prominent events, this has borne no results for the Pi token. In fact, price movements suggest that the events could have allowed some traders to pump and dump, negatively impacting the long-term stability and outlook.
At the time of writing, Pi is trading at $0.1709 after a 4% drop in the last 24 hours. The token has been performing poorly since its March 14th, ‘Pi Day.’ The coin almost doubled, starting at $0.17 days before, to a high of $0.30 on the day.
It reached a record high of $2.99 at the end of February 2025. At current prices, the token has lost nearly 90% of its ATH value. While some have taken this as a warning sign, some traders have seen an opportunity to buy at low prices and cash out as the network rebuilds.
Holders will be looking for a price reaction ahead of the latest protocol upgrade. As ETHNews reported, the network has been releasing a series of updates. The team says the upgrades enhance security, transparency, and support smart contracts. In a recent post, the team reminded all Mainnet nodes to complete the Protocol 23 upgrade by next week.
