Pi Network is facing renewed scrutiny after Justin Bons, founder of CyberCapital, publicly branded the project a “scam.”
Bons raised concerns about the project’s technology, business model, and tokenomics, arguing that they are deeply flawed and potentially harmful to investors.
Is Pi Network a Scam? Justin Bons Thinks So
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Bons pointed out several issues with the network. He suggested that contrary to its claims of decentralization, Pi Network remains heavily centralized.
“PI is fully permissioned (centralized) and everything requires KYC, even simple transactions! PI is an investment scam; it is that bad,” he wrote.
Bons also criticized the five-year-delayed mainnet launch, calling the network’s promises of innovation and decentralization misleading. Notably, one of the major claims the executive made was that Pi Network’s core technology was copied from Stellar (XLM).
Despite this, he argued that the absence of a Turing-complete virtual machine (VM) limits Pi Network’s potential for decentralized finance (DeFi), making it a “pipedream.” Moreover, he explained that this renders the network neither scalable nor programmable.
Bons also drew attention to the network’s referral program, which he likened to a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scheme. He argued that this system generates unnecessary costs for the network without providing real benefits to users.
Further compounding his concerns, Bons highlighted a Ponzi-like mechanism within Pi Network’s “mining” process. He revealed that the lockup period benefits insiders by inflating the token price, allowing early investors to exit with profits.
Transparency, or the lack thereof, was another significant issue Bons flagged. He criticized the Pi network for not revealing insider token allocations despite enforcing Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. He noted that insiders might control as much as 20% of the network’s supply, which contradicts the project’s fairness claims.
“PI made it into the top 20 is an embarrassment to our industry,” Bons concluded.
Previously, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou had shared similar concerns, calling PI a scam and describing it as “more dangerous than meme coins.”
Will Pi Coin (PI) be listed on Binance?
Meanwhile, the latest wave of criticism comes amid mounting discontent among pioneers toward Binance. On March 19, the exchange revealed its first batch of Vote to List projects. The list included meme coins associated with the former CEO’s dog and the Mubarak (MUBARAK) token, among others.
Nonetheless, despite Pi Coin (PI) receiving an 86% vote in favor, the community expressed frustration over Binance’s failure to list it.
“Stop acting like some third rate junk exchange and fulfill your promises before you start the next vote. I don’t know if CZ would have behaved like this if he was still at Binance, he wouldn’t be proud of your behavior,” a user wrote on X.
The community has even gone as far as giving Binance a 1-star rating on the Google Play Store. However, this might have worsened PI’s prospects rather than improving them.
“Do not try to pressure us into listing your coin by spreading FUD or negative comments about Binance, or you will be blacklisted,” Binance noted.
The dual blows of Bons’ criticism and Binance’s snub have coincided with a devastating market slump for PI. The token’s price plummeted below $1.0 today for the first time since late February.
Over the past day, PI has declined by 20.1%, with weekly losses extending to 48.7%. At press time, Pi Coin was trading at $0.91. Its ranking has also taken a hit, sliding to 27th place on CoinGecko, a significant drop from its earlier position.
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