TL;DR
- Justin Bons, founder of CyberCapital, labels Pi Network a scam, citing its centralized structure, flawed business model, and limited technological framework.
- He denounces its reliance on Stellar and criticizes its Ponzi-like mining system, raising concerns about the project’s long-term sustainability.
- Despite overwhelming community support, Binance refuses to list PI, intensifying the token’s price drop below one dollar.
Pi Network is once again under heavy scrutiny—this time from crypto expert Justin Bons, founder of the investment firm CyberCapital. In a detailed thread posted on X (formerly Twitter), Bons unleashed a wave of criticism against the project, calling it a “scam” that threatens both investor capital and the credibility of the wider crypto space.
According to Bons, Pi Network is far from being the decentralized innovation it claims to be. He asserts that much of its core technology has been borrowed from Stellar (XLM) and lacks essential capabilities like a Turing-complete virtual machine. Without this, Pi Network cannot support smart contracts or power decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, which drastically limits its growth potential and use cases within the blockchain ecosystem.
An MLM Network on Steroids?
One of Bons’ most severe allegations concerns Pi Network’s referral-based model. He equates it to a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme that benefits early adopters while giving newcomers empty promises of future gains. Adding to this, he calls the project’s mining mechanism Ponzi-like: token lockups help inflate the token’s price temporarily, allowing insiders and early investors to profit during artificial peaks.
Transparency is another major concern. While regular users are required to complete Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, Pi Network has not disclosed how much of the token supply is held by insiders. Estimates suggest they may control up to 20% of the total supply, a figure that seriously undermines the network’s claim of fairness and decentralization.
Binance: The Great Absentee
The controversy intensified when Binance excluded PI from its recent “Vote to List” campaign, despite the coin receiving an overwhelming 86% of community votes. Frustrated users lashed out by leaving negative reviews on the Binance app, demanding transparency and follow-through. However, Binance responded with a clear warning: attempting to pressure the exchange through fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) may result in the coin being permanently blacklisted.
With the price dropping below $1 and falling over 44% in just one week, Pi is experiencing one of its toughest moments. Still, many pro-crypto voices believe that with structural reforms and greater openness, Pi Network could evolve into a legitimate player. In a world that values transparency and decentralization, perhaps there’s still hope for PI.
