Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said Thursday that his exchange would not list the PI tokens for the controversially released PI network on Thursday. The Chinese police warning from 2023 claims the project is a scam targeting elderly people, leaking personal information and losing their pension.
“There are several other reports questioning the legitimacy of the project,” Zhou posted to X. “Yes, I think you’re still a scam.
1. There is an official police warning $pi In 2023, a warning from Chinese police that it was a scam targeting elderly people https://t.co/lagjqxsoxr leaks loss of personal data and pensions. There are several other reports… https://t.co/gkeu2wzwfo
– Ben Zhou (@benbybit) February 20, 2025
The PI network did not respond to Coindesk’s request for comment.
Token performed live on Thursday along with the project’s mainnet release. Users who “mined” their tokens by clicking on their smartphone screen once a day were finally able to transfer and sell the tokens.
However, Zhou, however, found himself on Exchange Bybit on Friday, midway through another issue. This was hacked for $1.5 billion by the North Korean Lazarus group.
The PI token debuted at $0.67 on OKX, rose by $2 higher, falling to 65%, and is now around $0.69.
One issue that raised concerns was marketing tactics that rewarded users who recruited other users. Every time a user persuaded someone else to sign up using the code, the first person’s “mining” reward increased. This idea was compared to BitConnect, the 2017 Ponzi scheme.
“The PI network is the largest Ponzi (scheme),” X user CryptoBeast posted to 656K followers.
The project also offers users the option to lock the token for three years. In return, they are promised an increase in reward. The same technique was found in the Hear of the Hex project. Its founder, Richard Schuler, is the fugitive that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeks to deceive investors.
The token’s market capitalization is $4.18 billion based on a $6.333 billion distribution supply. However, its inflation means that the maximum supply is 100 billion, and assuming it holds its current price, it has a totally diluted value (FDV) of an astounding $67 billion. I’ll give it. At launch, FDV reached $200 billion, almost double the amount of Solana.
Some exchanges have not been denied by concerns raised. According to CoinmarketCap, OKX, Bitget and Gate have won a total trading volume of $620 million for the PI trading pairs between them.
Read more: PI Network tokens debut at $195 billion worth despite minimal liquidity
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