PiFest 2025: Pi Network Pushes for Real-World Adoption of PI Coin

Pi Network has announced the launch of PiFest 2025, an initiative designed to promote local commerce and real-world adoption of its digital currency, PI Coin.

The announcement comes on Pi Day, an annual event celebrating the mathematical constant pi, which is approximately 3.14159.

Pi Network Pushes for Real-World Adoption With PiFest 2025

Running from March 14 to March 21, PiFest 2025 aims to connect Pioneers—Pi Network users—with merchants who accept Pi coins as a form of payment. The event highlights the potential of Open Network connectivity while celebrating Pi Day 2025.

“Pi is celebrating with the first-ever Open Network PiFest to connect Pioneers with local merchants! With the full support of Open Network connectivity, PiFest is here to put the spotlight on local commerce utilities and showcase Pi’s real-world use around the globe,” Pi Network’s official announcement stated.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Pi Network is experiencing the highest bullish sentiment among cryptocurrencies on Pi Day. This reflects the enthusiasm surrounding the project on its big day.

PiFest 2025 allows Pioneers to engage in transactions with businesses that accept Pi, helping to expand the cryptocurrency’s utility. PiFest aims to build stronger local economies powered by Pi coin, from small businesses to large service providers.

Merchants could register for the event starting March 12, with transactions officially beginning on March 14 and running through March 21. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding PiFest 2025, legal uncertainties regarding cryptocurrency transactions pose risks to Pioneers in certain jurisdictions.

“If the exchange of cryptocurrency is illegal in your country, you are not allowed to participate in the PiFest,” Pi News articulated.

This statement highlights the legal gray areas in which Pi operates, as crypto regulations vary significantly across countries.

In hindsight, PiFest 2024 was a major success, with over 55,000 merchants from 160+ countries participating. It also recorded nearly 1 million Pioneer buyers engaging in transactions. This year’s event aims to build upon that momentum by increasing Pi adoption globally.

Pi Network Unveils Full Phone Number Change for KYC-Verified Pioneers

Alongside PiFest 2025, Pi Network has introduced a new feature allowing KYC-verified Pioneers to update their full phone numbers. Previously, registered users with incorrect or outdated numbers could not modify their information.

The new feature helps Pioneers maintain access to their accounts, receive verification codes, and securely manage their information. However, Pi Network emphasized its strict policy on account ownership, stating that any attempt to exploit the feature for transferring accounts would result in restrictions.

“This feature should not be exploited for account transfers or sales. Pi has a strict policy of “one person, one account”. As a result, if you knowingly and intentionally transfer your KYC’d account to others, then you will not be able to participate in the Pi ecosystem in the future,  because none of your future Pi accounts will be able to get verified,” Pi Network added.

The platform implements liveness verification and name-matching mechanisms to ensure that only the rightful owners can update their phone numbers.

The new feature comes amid concerns that KYC (Know Your Customer) issues could lead to Pioneers losing access to their Pi holdings. Reports suggest that verification challenges have prevented some users from migrating their Pi coins to the Open Network, raising concerns about the platform’s long-term viability.

Elsewhere, Pi Network remains a controversial project amid scam claims from industry executives like Bybit CEO Ben Zhou. Similarly, Moonrock Capital CEO Simon Dedic also alleged wash trading in Pi Network.

Data on CoinGecko shows Pi Network’s PI price was trading for $1.57 as of this writing, down almost 9% in the last 24 hours.