Pi Network Upgrade Gives Battered PI Price a Shot at Rebound
Pi Network’s PI token has been sliding for weeks. Still, it has shown a little life above $0.073. July 22 is now the date traders are circling, because that is when the network plans to activate Protocol v25. Can the upgrade spark a recovery? Possibly, but Bitcoin hovering near $64,000 leaves investors with little appetite for smaller altcoins. I’ll be honest: the wider market may matter more than the upgrade.
PI traded near $0.0765 on Thursday, according to crypto.news data, after covering an $0.0116 range between $0.0723 and $0.0839 during the day. The daily chart remains weak. No debate there. The 4-hour chart, though, has tightened into a narrow range—a setup that often ends with a sharp move in either direction. Pi Network’s July 15 announcement at least gave traders a concrete catalyst while PI sits near its recent lows. My take: that makes the chart worth watching, not automatically bullish.
Protocol v25 will add BN254 cryptography and Poseidon hashing. In practical terms, developers will be able to build zero-knowledge applications that process sensitive information without exposing the underlying data on a public ledger. Why does this matter? Because privacy-preserving smart contracts need precisely that separation between computation and visible data. The Pi Core Team said, “On July 22, Pi is scheduled to upgrade to Protocol v25, which primarily focuses on improving network stability and reliability, and supports new capabilities for more efficient, privacy-preserving smart contracts.” Most upgrade coverage stops at the new capabilities. That’s only half right. Working applications could give PI more utility and create demand for the token; without them, Protocol v25 may be little more than a short-lived trading excuse.
The timing is rough. Bitcoin remains around $64,000, while the total crypto market cap has dropped 1.67%. In that environment, smaller tokens usually take the harder hit as investors rotate into larger assets or leave crypto entirely. Protocol v25 gives PI a chance to trade on project-specific news for a while, and a smooth rollout may attract buyers looking at a beaten-down token with a firm development date. But software does not summon demand. I would need to see better network performance first. Then developers have to ship applications—and people have to use them. Counter to the usual upgrade narrative, successful deployment alone may not be enough. If Bitcoin cannot push past roughly $65,000, the broader slump could bury even a clean Pi rollout.
On July 22, Pi is scheduled to upgrade to Protocol v25, which primarily focuses on improving network stability and reliability, and supports new capabilities for more efficient, privacy-preserving smart contracts.
Go to the Pi mining app to learn more! pic.twitter.com/Btg8aEFAFh
– Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) July 15, 2026
PI has formed a symmetrical triangle on TradingView’s 4-hour chart after falling from about $0.10 earlier in July. Descending resistance is pressing toward rising support. The squeeze cannot last. A 4-hour close above both the upper trendline and $0.080 would signal a bullish breakout, putting $0.085 first in view. That sits close to the daily Murrey Math oversold level of $0.08545. After that, traders may turn to $0.097 before testing the round-number barrier at $0.10. I would treat the close—not an intraday wick—as the meaningful signal.
The momentum readings push back on that bullish case. On the 4-hour chart, Aroon Up is 28.57% and Aroon Down is 0%. Sellers have eased off. Buyers, however, have not established a strong upward trend. TradingView’s daily Chaikin Money Flow near -0.20 adds another problem: more capital is leaving PI than entering it, even as buyers defend support. Is that fatal to the setup? Not yet, because $0.07324—the daily Murrey Math extreme-oversold mark—still sits near the triangle’s rising boundary. A decisive break below it would wreck the rebound case and expose $0.070. Continued selling could then pull PI toward the Murrey Math bullish-reversal level near $0.061.
What this means
Protocol v25 is Pi Network’s opportunity to prove that development work can do more than briefly lift PI’s price. Its privacy tools may fit applications that cannot place all their data on-chain, but somebody still has to build those applications. That sounds obvious. It gets skipped anyway. Actual releases and heavier network use would make a stronger case than the July 15 announcement alone. Yes, that is less exciting than calling the upgrade a turnaround. It is also the standard I would use. Right now, the project is trying to code its way out of an ugly downturn. I understand the appeal. I just do not see enough evidence yet.
July 22 is the date that matters. A sustained move above $0.080 would strengthen the bullish setup and confirm a triangle breakout. A drop below $0.07324 would weaken it, opening a path toward $0.070 and potentially $0.061. Simple levels. Messy outcome. The chart still tells only part of the story: once Protocol v25 is live, I will be watching what developers release and whether anyone actually uses it. That is the real test of whether the upgrade creates demand—or merely gives traders one more headline.