Pi Network to Launch Protocol 27 on September 15, 2026

Pi Network announced that its long‑awaited Protocol 27 will go live on mainnet on September 15, 2026. The upgrade follows a test‑net phase that began on August 21 and adds three core components: smart‑contract authentication, an automated‑market‑maker (AMM) decentralized exchange (DEX), and remote‑procedure‑call (RPC) server infrastructure.

Key Features of Protocol 27

• Smart‑contract authentication – On‑chain tools that let contracts verify a user’s KYC‑verified identity, extending the Pi Sign‑In and PiVerify frameworks released earlier in 2026.
• Automated‑market‑maker DEX – A hybrid exchange that combines AMM liquidity pools with an order‑book style interface, moving from test‑net to mainnet for real‑token trading.
• RPC server infrastructure – Public RPC endpoints that allow developers to interact with the Pi blockchain without running a full node.

Background and User Base

Pi Network, launched in March 2019, claims more than 60 million registered users across 200 countries. Approximately 19 million have completed KYC verification, and about 14 million have migrated their tokens to the mainnet. The network’s token, PI, trades near $0.095, giving it a market cap of roughly $1.06 billion as of early September 2026.

Recent Testnet Activity

The Pi Launchpad conducted a test token launch (SLICE) on the testnet DEX from June 11‑28, 2026. Over 242 000 participants committed 15.92 million Test‑Pi, exercising token issuance, liquidity‑pool creation and price discovery. The exercise also prompted a redesign of the participation model to improve fairness.

Developer Tools Introduced Earlier in 2026

At Pi2Day 2026, the core team released PiVerify, Pi Sign‑In and SoloHost, providing identity verification, sign‑in flows and a permissionless computing framework for developers.

Market Context

PI’s price has fallen more than 97 % from its February 2025 all‑time high of $2.99, pressured by monthly token unlocks that release roughly 6.5 million coins per day. The token is listed on OKX, Bitget, Gate.io and MEXC, but not on Binance despite a community vote.

What Comes Next

Protocol 27 is described by the Pi core team as the “final planned” protocol change in the current development sequence, indicating that future upgrades will build on top of this base layer rather than replace it.