Bybit CEO Labels Pi Network a Scam, Citing Official Police Warning

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou publicly stated that his cryptocurrency exchange will not list Pi Network's PI token, citing a 2023 Chinese police warning labeling the project a scam that targeted elderly people, resulted in leaked personal information, and caused pension losses. The PI token launched alongside the project's mainnet, allowing users who "mined" tokens via a daily smartphone click to transfer and sell. The token initially debuted on OKX at $0.67, peaked at $2, then dropped 65% to around $0.69. Concerns were raised due to the project's user recruitment reward system, which increased mining rewards for referring new users, drawing comparisons to the Bitconnect Ponzi scheme. The project also offers users increased rewards for locking their tokens for up to three years, a tactic similar to the Hex project, whose founder is now a fugitive sought by the SEC. The PI token currently has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion based on a circulating supply of $6.33 billion, but its maximum supply is 100 billion, resulting in a fully diluted value of $67 billion at its current price. At launch, this fully diluted value reached $200 billion. Despite the controversy, exchanges like OKX, Bitget, and Gate have facilitated a combined $620 million in PI trading volume.