Trading volume rose more than 50% to about $16.8 million as investors bet the upgrade and RoboPay tie-up could bolster security and utility, though August token unlocks still threaten post-event selling pressure.
Pi Network's PI token rebounded more than 7% in 24 hours to trade near $0.0935 before the August 11 deadline for the Protocol v26 upgrade, lifting market capitalization above $1.03 billion, pushing its ranking to around #52 on major market trackers, and driving trading volume up more than 50% to roughly $16.8 million. The move followed renewed focus on Mainnet node operators completing Protocol v26, an update aimed at improving smart-contract (self-executing blockchain code) security, state management, cross-chain compatibility, and cryptographic features, while the network's RoboPay partnership added to expectations for broader real-world use. CoinMarketCap data showed PI opened near $0.087 and traded between about $0.0863 and $0.0951 over 24 hours; weekly gains exceeded 13%, though the token was still down roughly 16% on the monthly chart. TradingView data pointed to improving momentum, with mostly neutral oscillators, buy-leaning moving averages, and a bullish overall summary as volume expanded. Even so, roughly 127 million to 128 million PI in August token unlocks (release of locked coins), a circulating supply of 11.02 billion against a 100 billion maximum, and a fully diluted valuation near $9.3 billion leave dilution and post-upgrade selling pressure as key risks.