Pi Network reaches milestone with version 20 upgrade

Pi Network recently upgraded their blockchain protocol to a new version that is currently running on a testnet. The process is expected to gradually progress from 20 to 23 in the next few phases.

According to Pi Network advocate Dr Altcoin on X, the upgrade started for the blockchain sometime in mid-September, with many other users witnessing the change in protocol version. This September, the blockchain was upgraded from version 19 to version 20.

“This process is expected to be a gradual upgrade leading up to version 23,” said Dr Altcoin in a post that tagged the Pi account and its founders.

Although the upgrade from 19 to 20 was not officially highlighted by the Pi Core team on social media, many traders noticed. In fact, it was able to catapult the price of Pi coin ( PI ) by as high as 10% on the day the upgrade was made.

In a short video posted on the account’s YouTube channel much earlier on September 5, the protocol informed the community that it will be preparing to upgrade its protocol from version 19 to version 23. The upgrade will occur in phases which may require occasional system outages that will be announced ahead of time.

According to the video, the new version is meant to be a custom Pi protocol built on a base, pulling upgrades from Stellar protocol version 23 that would enable new layers of functionality and control for users of the blockchain.

In addition, the protocol upgrades will enable new functionalities including embedding Know-Your-Customer authority in the protocol, which will maintain Pi as a KYC verified blockchain while offering a more distributed community driven KYC process at the protocol level.

The protocol dubs this new process as “the decentralization of KYC authority.”

“While the native Pi KYC solutions continue to verify Pioneers, the protocol will allow KYC authorities to be assigned to other trusted entities in the future,” wrote the Pi Network in its video.

So far, the protocol has garnered massive attention from the crypto community for its peer-to-peer system. It claims to have accumulated over 14.28 million migrated KYC verified users on its platform.

Pi Network price analysis

The price of Pi Network’s token recently experienced a major breakout after phasing out of its consolidation phase. For several days, PI was trading in a tight sideways range around the $0.345 level, showing little volatility.

On September 12th, when the upgrade to version 20 was realized, momentum shifted as a sharp rally pushed prices nearly 10% higher, from around $0.345 to a peak near $0.380. However, the bullish momentum was short-lived. After hitting $0.380, sellers drove the price back down to the $0.347 level.

Price chart for Pi Network’s token, the Pi Coin | Source: TradingView

The retracement shows that the market lacked enough follow-up buying pressure to sustain the breakout, and many traders likely took profits after the upgrade-fuelled pump. The RSI confirms this shift, as it dropped from overbought conditions above 70 back into bearish territory below 40, indicating weakening momentum.

At press time, PI is trading at just above the previous consolidation floor around $0.348, which now acts as immediate support. If the price fails to hold up, Pi coin could fall back into the $0.340 to 0.335 zone, where buyers previously defended.