What in the world is "Pi Network"?
Pi Network is yet another cryptocurrency project that allows users to "mine" their coins on smartphones without draining battery life or compromising device performance. Originally founded in 2019, they claim to be the first digital currency that can be mined on the phone (Though Electroneum was once "mineable" on phones too) and they say that their goal is to build a cryptocurrency and a smart contract platform "secured and operated by everyday people". Pi Network was founded by 3 people: 2 PhDs from Stanford University and a BA from Yale University. While the Pi Network team seems to boast strong credentials, it is a rather small team of 3.
Today, mining of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum require expensive hardware alongside large amounts of energy, meaning that those with lots of resources or a cheap source of electricity have an advantage in mining. This ultimately means that a vast amount of cryptocurrencies are owned by a small group of individuals. Pi Network wants to combat this problem, preventing the small group of individuals from amassing too much of the available coins or tokens.
Okay, cool. So, how do I get started? Do I have to invest anything?
You do not need to invest any money into Pi Network to download an app and get started on mining via your smartphone. I'm guessing that you're now thinking "Hey, how can that be? Nothing is ever free!" And in some sense, you're right. Since the coin was just launched last year, you cannot trade it, so it has no actual value. It is still unclear when exactly this coin will actually become tradable, and what exactly the Pi coin will be worth. In other words, there is a chance that the coin will be worth absolutely nothing.
While you can download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store to sign up, it is currently by invite only. If you want, you can type in my invite code, which is my username: AverageVancouverite . Every single day, all you have to do to earn Pi is to press a button in the app that starts the 24 hour-long mining process and the coins will show up in your app. You can increase your earnings by inviting more people. This may sound like a ponzi scheme, but since you're not investing any money, it isn't really risky. At this point, the Pi Network just seems to be trying to increase number of users.
What's the risk here?
Well, since you didn't invest anything or provide much personal information, even if Pi coins never reach the market or the coins are worth a minuscule amount, you wasted a few seconds a day at most. In other word, Pi Network seems to pose minimal-risk to those looking to get into another cryptocurrency. Personally, I'm interested to see where Pi goes in the future.
Pi Network has a whitepaper like many other cryptocurrencies and tokens, but lacks a clear roadmap. Rather than have concrete dates of when new updates roll out or mining rates change, Pi Network uses "Phases", making it unclear when anything will take place.
Summary
All in all, Pi Network is a newer cryptocurrency project, and while mineable via smartphone without eating power, it is currently worth absolutely nothing. The Pi app itself has extremely limited functionality (mostly just a chat, the mining platform itself, and a couple of other basic functions), but is pretty easy to use. However... Since it's free to mine Pi and there's pretty much no risk to it, even in the case it's not worth much in the end, nothing's really at stake here. And who knows, maybe it'll actually be worth something once it launches!
DISCLAIMER: Though I use Pi Network, I am not affiliated with the team, nor am I endorsing or rejecting the use of their platform. I am not a financial advisor either. Remember, investments in cryptocurrencies are like any other investment: Invest only what you can afford to lose. No investment is a guarantee.
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