Pi Network (PI) has taken a significant step toward legal recognition in Europe by officially filing under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations. This move aims to secure complete legal standing for Pi Coin in the European market and pave the way for listings on regulated European exchanges once market-admission approvals are obtained. The project has set November 28, 2025, as the proposed start date for public trading.
Meeting MiCA Requirements
Pi Network is stressing its compliance and structure, noting:
- Token Distribution: It conducted no Initial Coin Offering (ICO), distributing its tokens solely through mobile mining and community participation. The current circulation is 8.2 billion tokens out of a maximum supply of 100 billion.
- Compliance Measures: The project highlights implemented comprehensive KYC/KYB requirements, third-party audits, fraud-prevention systems, and a non-custodial wallet model.
- Token Utility: Pi tokens are intended only for payments within the ecosystem and do not grant voting rights or dividends to owners.
- Market Strategy: The filing lists Germany, France, and Italy as host member states and outlines plans for a pan-European entry via MiCA-compliant exchanges like OKCoin and OKX (both licensed in Malta).
- Global Integration: Pi Network recently joined the ISO 20022 standards group (alongside XRP and XLM), a crucial step for efficient interaction with the global financial system.
Investor Frustration and Centralization Concerns
Despite the bullish regulatory news, the Pi community, known as "pioneers," remains anxious:
- Market Sustainability: Concerns exist that a public market may not be sustainable or could lead to an inability to sell the token, given the Pi whitepaper's previous warning about new, unregulated markets being susceptible to manipulation.
- Centralization: Critics argue that despite the goal of decentralization, the Core Team retains highly centralized control over strategic decisions and reportedly holds a large majority of the total token supply.
- KYC Backlog: Users are frustrated, noting that regulatory paperwork is meaningless when millions are still "stuck in ‘Tentative Approval’ purgatory" or waiting for token migration.
- Market Pressure: Scheduled unlocks of large token amounts have raised fears of market flooding and resulting downward price pressure.
PI Coin Defies Market Downturn
Amidst the broader crypto market "blood bath" where top coins like Bitcoin (down over 12%) and Ethereum (down over 13%) saw double-digit declines, the MiCA news has provided a strong lift for PI Coin:
- Price Action: PI Coin saw a 7% increase over the past week, reaching a weekly high, though it has since settled slightly to $0.2339.
- Capital Inflows: The Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) showed a sharp rise, moving into positive territory and signaling accelerated capital inflows and strengthening investor demand.
November 2025, Cryptoniteuae